What 's Science Without a Mess?!?!

With school back in full swing, students found some fun in science at the MHC After 3 sites, and they even managed to get a little messy too! A little spoiled milk never hurt anyone, and the kids found that to be true as they soured milk in just 5 minutes. The milk was mixed with acetic acid (vinegar) and everyone watched as the mixture slowly turned into curds and whey right before their very eyes.

But from every mess, art can be found somewhere. Some fresh milk was added to bowls and everyone got to color their milk with food coloring drops. They then found out what happens to milk proteins when you mix it with detergent...it explodes! Not the big kaboom, but the colors danced and swirled as the soap mixed with the milk.
They learned what happens when proteins mix with soap...they start breaking down.



To end the day, we made some elephant toothpaste by mixing yeast, hydrogen peroxide, and dish soap. It made one big mess!

Back to After-School!

MHC After 3 is back in session for Henry County students! The kids at the Bassett Community Center enjoyed their afternoon exploring chemical reactions.

They first did an activity where they "became" chemical elements, gathered into groups (which became their chemical compound formulas). They pretended to all have a chemical reaction, which caused them to rearrange in to new compounds. This showed them how all the elements after the reaction were still there in the same amounts (this balance is called equillibrium), however they were arranged differently.

They did two experiments involving the chemical reaction between baking soda and vinegar, which looks like this:

Acetic Acid   +  Sodium Bicarbonate  ----> Carbonic Acid  ------->  Water  + Carbon Dioxide

CH3COOH  +       NaHCO3            ---->      H2CO3       ------->   H2O   +         CO2

The carbon dioxide that's created in the reaction caused a balloon to blow up in the first experiment.

Then we used the reaction to shoot off a cork rocket.

It was very intense!
The students then talked about other chemical reactions they've seen in action, and also which ones take place in front of us every day!
They were so excited about these activities, we didn't have time to make elephant toothpaste! They'll have to wait until the next science session to find out what chemical reaction makes it!