Up & Down Raisins

Note from Mom: Sorry to mess up the schedule...I've been too sick to help Jake with his experiments and blog - we are going to make up for it this week!

Today, we decided to use an experiment from The Usborne Big Book of Science. We chose an experiment involving soda and raisins. The plan was to fill a clear glass with soda - in our case we just used soda water. Then we dropped 5 raisins into it. Jake hypothesized that the raisins would drop to the bottom of the glass. To his surprise, the raisins went to the bottom, rose, and after a a few seconds fell to the bottom again...kind of bouncing up and down over and over again until there weren't enough bubbles left...of course this took some time :)

Jake learned that the bubbles in soda are made of carbon dioxide. The bubbles are not as heavy as the liquid part of the soda so the bubbles carry the raisin to the top of the soda. As the bubbles burst, the raisin lowers back to the bottom, only to have more bubbles attach themselves and rise again!

Our First Science Experiment! Solids & Liquids...what Dissolves?

Our first science experiment involved solids & liquids...Our mission was to determine what powders dissolve and which ones don't. Jake hypothesized that the salt would dissolve and that the pepper, citric acid and baking soda would not...he wasn't sure about the sugar. Jake labeled each clear cup and filled them 1/4 full with water. As he added each powder in to each of the labeled cups, he also studied a small amount of the powder in a separate plate under a magnifying glass. He stirred each cup individually and made his observations.

Jake's hypothesis about the salt and pepper were right on. We learned that the sugar, citric acid and baking soda do dissolve.

Our first post leaves Jake setting up his science and chemistry experiment "stuff" on his desk...he's fully outfitted with cups, test tubes and Petri dishes!