What is better than engaging children in a science experiment? They pay undivided attention, constant focus while learning new things in a fun way; I see a total win-win situation and so, that is what we did today in our classroom. The children were divided into two groups and asked to do some preparation for our experiment. The children took turns pouring baking soda and vegetable oil in to a cup, filling paper cups with vinegar and mixing food colour in it. Once they were done, each table was given a dropper to take turns and put vinegar into the cup baking soda and oil mixture. As soon as the first child squeezed little drops into the oil filled cup, all the children had their mouths open seeing that the droplets did not mix in the cup. Even more exciting, droplets that reached the cup bottom started coming back up with speed and fizz inside the cup. When everyone was done taking their turns, I initiated a discussion where I asked them the reason behind the popping fizz we see. Some said it was because of baking soda while some others said oil could be the reason. I explained the chemical reaction taking place when we put vinegar and baking soda together that gives us carbon dioxide gas. That is the reason when the vinegar drops touch the baking soda, a reaction happens, gas is formed and the droplets go up speedily. Next, I asked them what are their thoughts on what happens if I mix a different coloured vinegar in it? They said, it will mix with other vinegar droplets inside the cup so I went ahead and squeezed another coloured vinegar in it. And they were surprised again because the droplets didn’t mix together, instead now we had blue and red droplets inside the cup that everyone could see. “Why it did not mix Anshika”, someone asked, to which I explained that vinegar is made of water, and oil and water never mix together because of their chemical properties. “Oh yeahhh! I remember that”, said a few children. Together we learned so much about the science lying underneath our experiment in a fun and engaging way. Throughout the process, children were curious to do more and to know more.
