Add Some 'Bubbly' To Your Valentine's Day!

Looking to add some 'bubbly' to your Valentine's Day this year?!

Aren't we all!!!

But here is an idea your students are sure to L-O-V-E you for!

It's time to make candy hearts DANCE!!!

In an effort to find some science activities that also fit my 'themes' I stumbled upon some ideas on Pinterest but needed to give them a test run before bringing them into my classroom.

Lucky for me, I have two 'love bugs' who love testing out school things for me!

Dancing Hearts Experiment

You will need:

glass jar/cup/mug/container

1 cup water 

1/2 T. baking soda

2-3 conversation hearts

1/4 c. vinegar

spoon

There is an 'alternate' way we tried too:

glass jar/cup/mug/container

1 cup seltzer water

2-3 conversation hearts

spoon

I also put some red paper up so that we could really see the candy in the mug.

Are you ready to try it out?!

To make it 'academic' I created a recording sheet.

I folded it three ways so that he couldn't 'look ahead!'

First he had to check if he had all his materials.

Then he had to draw/write about what he thought was going to happen.

(This is the PreK/K version of the recording sheet.)

Time to get the experiment ready!

Measure out 1 cup of water (it was straight from the tap- not hot or cold.. 'just right!')

Add the 1/2 T. of baking soda to the water and stir it with the spoon.

Add the water/baking soda mix to the glass jar/cup/mug/container.

Choose 2 conversation heart candies and add them to the water/baking soda mix solution.

Now comes the FUN!!!

Add the 1/4c vinegar to the solution!  

It will bubble up and become 'foggy' but then as the 'fog lifts' you will see a great deal of bubbles...and many that 'hug' the candies!

Watch closely as the bubbles make the candies 'dance!'

Can't picture it?

Check out our videos of it here:

You will notice I use the spoon- if the candies become 'stuck' to the bottom of the cup, just give them a little nudge with either your finger or a spoon.

Here is another trial.

 I chose blue again since it has 'danced' so well in the first one and again the blue danced to its heart's content!

[Please ignore the little voice at the end...he was getting upset that Mommy sent him out of the room to make the video in silence and wanted to get back to playing and experimenting!!]

So now it was time to go to the bottom third of our recording sheet and note our observations!

Here is a close-up of the recording sheet and 'take home' directions:

So what is the 'science' behind the experiment?

The candies are 'lifted' by the bubbles created by the baking soda/vinegar interaction.  Some bubbles pop, causing the candy to 'fall' but then others 'catch' it and push it back up.  If it makes it to the top the bubbles pop once they hit the 'air' and then the candy falls back down until it is 'caught' by more bubbles!

We also tried out the 'easier' version using seltzer water.  It wasn't as 'exciting,' so I would suggest you go with the baking soda/vinegar solution if doing it with your students.

As you can see from this video, they didn't 'dance' much (and I even tried the blue again!):

But our 'experiments' did not end there!
My son was grabbing random things like sugar and salt to see what happened when he poured them in!  You and your students could spend a whole week on all the different possibilities and comparing/contrasting them and the results of each!

I have put the recording sheets, directions, take-home cards, comparison worksheets and more together in this pack:

The recording sheets are differentiated- allowing you to choose what works best for your students and their ability levels!

I hope your Valentine's Day celebrations are LOVE-ly and your day is full of 'bubbly' fun and a LOVE of learning!

Until next post,