More mentos extensions...

Last week we finished up with our group experiments.  The students were able to pick a constant and change a variable.  The results were interesting....some went off really well while others caused no reaction.

For now, we are leaving this inquiry unit to move into a new phase...exploring space!  I am hoping to come back and explore mentos throughout the year with a few new toys educational products from Steve Spangler. 

Have you seen???

The Geyser Rocket car?  How much fun would that be to test and explore???  I am thinking of bringing this back when we do force and motion later this year...It is only $24.95.





The next product that I love is the depth charger.  He has created a way to drop other substances into your soda...like baking powder, rock salt, etc... Make sure you check with your county guidelines first and always use safety goggles. This sells for $9.95.




Finally, there is a new cap to screw on the geyser tube to see if the shape of the hole will make a difference. You can buy them separately or in the big bucket of great geyser kit.
There is so much to do and so many ways to explore that you can keep it going all year!

 

mentos - day two

Today the students walked in and saw this on the science table.

By the way that is a picture of me and one of my colleagues (Heather Howe) with Steve Spangler. 

This sets up the excitement for scienc today!

Today we are teaching about variables and constants.  What better way, right???

So we teach them that we will keep the # of mentos the same (constant) and we will change the type of soda (variable).  These are some of the sodas that the children chose to experiement with yesterday in their exit tickets.

So again, we traipse on down to the black top and we let 'er rip!

Again we discuss the changes as well as the similarities before going back into the school to record our data. 

 

But now...we start comparing the two types of soda and noticing what happens when we change a variable...

 

 

 

Since we are still at the beginning of the year, my feedback was short and sweet...To find out more about this unit and get the detailed lesson plans and printables, you can visit my TPT store for this product.

 

 

 

mentos - day one

Boy oh boy do I love this lesson every year!  It is so much fun for both the students and the adults!

 Most everyone has watched a youtube clip on this one. They know it's going to explode soda all over the place.  So instead of saying what do you think will happen, we focus on observing what does happen.

If you haven't seen the clip...go watch it! Show it to your kids too... they love it!  This is the original Steve Spangler clip.

Focus Question: What will you notice when we mix diet coke and mentos?

Then we take the kids down to the black top where they can watch two demonstrations. We set up the guidelines first so that they are expecting it and they don't run and scream when it happens!

It is super cool!

When it is done we do it a second time and discuss what we hear, what we saw, how high does it go, what direction does it explode in, how much soda is left,  what do we wonder next....

Then we return to the room where we write this up in our notebooks.

By the way, if you are interested in purchasing this geyser tube you can get it here for a reasonable price.   If you want to purchase this unit from me it is $5 on my store.  Here is a sneak peek and a Freebie!

Looking for a way to blast off into the new school year?

Looking for a way to kick off the year and teach students how to use observational skills along with concepts such as variables and inquiry projects? 

Several years ago, my colleague and I created a unit that was based on the great Steve Spangler's You Tube videos involving diet coke and mentos. 

I mean...what great fun! 

My son and I first tried it several years ago in the back yard, then we did it for a birthday party for 7 year olds, and then I decided...I gotta do this in the classroom.

So, we decided to tie it into a unit on introducing scientific investigations. Many teachers like to do this at the beginning of the year as a way to introduce science vocabulary words and observation techniques. 

My students loved it!  Check out my blogs about the experience from last year by looking at the side posting labels.  You can see what it looked like in action. It is such a big hit it is now my student's #1 favorite activity (three years in a row!) as well as my #1 seller on TPT.

Click here to see more about this great investigation!   Enjoy!

A peek into my week...

The weather finally cooperated with us on Monday and we finally were able to test our mentos experiments. 

Our first one was a mixture of mellow yellow and coke (variable) and 7 mentos (constant). The kids were so sure it would explode - but all it did was...nothing! We decided that when we mixed it, the carbonation was activated and so by the time the mentos were added - there was no carbonation left for a reaction.

The next experiment was Coke Zero (variable) with 7 mentos(contsant).  The kids were super excited because they got the reaction they wanted.  They were convinced it would explode due to it having no calories - like the Diet Coke before. They were correct!

Our next experiment was another mixture...the kids were sad to do it because they had already seen the first one fizzle.  It had three types of soda: Cream Soda, Dr. Pepper and Coke.  And yes....it was a bust too!

The last two experiments were awesome!
I wish I could figure out how to put this picture in and rotate it correctly.  For some reason, it won't turn.  I think I will put it in anyway, and you will have to cock your head to look at it. 

The next one used Diet Orange Crush (variable) and 7 mentos.  The first time we tried it, the soda turned over. The little boy who was doing it had twisted the pull string and spun the soda over! 

Then we did it a second time, and it was awesome! (This is the shot that I can not rotate for the life of me!) If you can see, the geyser tube went flying off the force was so great! The kids were thrilled with the result and so was I! Cock your head now to see it better! :)

The very last experiment was done with my student in a wheelchair.  He is the sweetest most charming child ever!  His group had a most unique idea - they used Diet Coke (constant) and 7 crushed mentos (variable).  To be honest, even I had no idea what would happen!  It created a great geyser that went at least 7 feet!  What a blast....literally!

Now we are done with our first unit.  We assessed on Tuesday and moved on to our next unit introduction on Thursday....Ecosystems. Tune in next week when I blog about creating our class habitats - models of a school yard ecosystem.  Should have some great pictures to share!

Until then...gotta run!