Day 1 of Fizzy Fun - A Fizzy Explosion

We are celebrating the power of fizz over the next few days.  Isn't it wild how excited kids get about the baking soda and vinegar reaction?  I have to admit that I like it almost as much as my kids.  

Our first fizzy fun experiment is the Bubble Bomb from Science Explorer.  The goal is to make a sandwich bag pop with the power of baking soda and vinegar.

We used:

• water
• measuring cup
• zipper-lock plastic sandwich bags
• paper towel
• tablespoon
  baking soda
• vinegar

This is how we did it:

1.  Tear a paper towel into a square that measures about 5 inches by 5 inches. Put 1 1/2 tablespoons of baking soda in the center of the square, then fold the square as shown in the picture, with the baking soda inside. This is your "time-release packet."

2.  Pour into your plastic bag:
1/2 cup of vinegar
1/4 cup of warm water

3.  Now here's the tricky part. You need to drop the time-release packet into the vinegar and zip the bag closed before the fizzing gets out of control.  You can zip the bag halfway closed, then stuff the packet in and zip the bag closed the rest of the way in a hurry, or you can put the time-release packet into the mouth of the bag and hold it up out of the vinegar by pinching the sides of the bag. Zip the bag closed and then let the packet drop into the vinegar.  One way or another, get the packet in the vinegar and zip the bag closed.

4.  Shake the bag a little, put it in the sink or on the ground, and stand back! The bag will puff up dramatically and pop with a bang (a little bang, but still a bang, or maybe more like a "pop").

Woo hoo!  We did this three times.