Making Raisins Dance ~ Science Sunday

This experiment almost ended up being a total flop. I thought we had all the needed materials, but didn’t take into account the fact that the soda had been shaken by a certain 5 year old and therefore was missing a key part needed for the experiment.

Carbonation.

Fortunately, I have some children that have been paying attention during these experiment times and came up with an alternative idea that WORKED. Hallelujah…something is sinking in!

Question of the Week…What will happen to raisins dropped into a glass of clear soda?

Items we used for this experiment:

~ two clear glasses

~ clear soda {Sprite, etc…}

~ raisins

~ water

OR if you have a 5 year old who can’t keep his hands to himself….

~ two clear glasses

~ baking soda

~ vinegar

~ water

~ raisins

Predictions and Experiment…

Each of the kids made a prediction about what they thought would happen when the raisin was dropped into a glass of soda ~ would it melt away to nothing, sink to the bottom, move up and down, or float and stay at the top? We marked our answers on our record sheets and started experimenting.

First we tried putting some raisins in a glass of plain water. They sank to the bottom of the glass and sat there.

We poured the soda into the glass and then dropped some raisins in.

Nothing.

Our soda was highly non-carbonated and offered little support. Before mutiny began we talked about WHY the experiment didn’t work and what we could do to change the results. The kids all suggested using baking soda and vinegar together, so we put some water in another glass, added some baking soda, poured some white vinegar into the glass and added our raisins.

And the raisins danced!!

The Nutshell Reason…

Raisins will sink because they are more dense than water. The soda has carbonation {carbon dioxide} and forms bubbles of the gas. Some of the bubbles attach themselves to the raisins and float to the top of the water/soda. When they pop, the raisin will fall to the bottom of the jar.

After the Experiment…

When we were finished, each of the kids drew a picture of the experiment. In case you can’t read it, McKenna’s little girl watching the experiment is saying ‘Cool’ and ‘Wow’. {grins}

Note to self…do not turn your back on your 5 year old for a split second when the container of baking soda is left on the table. Or your house and your child may look like this:

Resource: How to Do Science Experiments with Children is available from Amazon and you can also check it out {and do some of the experiments} using Google Docs! The experiments use easy-to-find objects and also include record sheets for kids to fill out with their predictions and experiment results. Each experiment also includes teaching tips and explanations…which are rather handy! :) Don’t forget to check out some other great science ideas at Science Sunday hosted by Ticia at Adventures in Mommydom.