Baking soda and vinegar experiments are huge at our house! I’m constantly out of one or the other and have to keep a stash hidden from my little scientists. They love to watch the chemical reaction that occurs when you combine the two.
I knew they would love apple volcanoes, but wanted to take it a step further. I gave them a red and green apple and asked them to make a predictions: will one type of apple produce more of a reaction (fizz) than the other.
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Our oldest starting doing volcano projects in preschool. With Daddy’s help, he built a paper mache volcano and used the reaction of baking soda and vinegar to create a volcanic eruption. For three years, they made one and did a demonstration for his classmates.
The Science
When you combine baking soda and vinegar a chemical reaction occurs that releases carbon dioxide. The baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is a base while the vinegar (acetic acid) is an acid. When they react together they form carbonic acid, which breaks apart into water and carbon dioxide, and creates fizzing as it escapes.
Supplies
- Baking soda
- Vinegar
- Dish or container to catch the fizz
- Knife to cut center from apple
- Apples
*We used Red Delicious and Granny Smith.
Testing
1. Prep your apples by cutting a hole in the top of each apple. (Dad completed this step.)
2. Put equal amount of baking soda in each apple.
3. Pour vinegar into each apple and watch it fizz.
4. Draw your conclusions. There was only a slight difference in the reaction between the two apples, but after a few test runs, we were able to draw our conclusions. The reaction of baking soda and vinegar produced more fizz with the granny smith apple. We believe it might be due to the higher acid content in this apple.
*We would love to see your apple volcano experiments and whether you have the same outcome. Tag us on Instagram or Facebook with your experiments.
I didn’t get a picture, but once they finished with their apple volcanoes, the kids had a fun sensory experience getting their hands in the fizz.
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I love this! I use a melon baller to cut out the center of the apple. Then I add pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon to the baking soda so it smells like apple pie. I set each person’s apple in a foil pie tin? The kids put a scoop of the powder mixture in the apple and then squirt vinegar into the apple from a plastic ketchup bottle. They love to do this over and over until the fizzing stops. When I’ve done this with my kindergarten class, I send some of the powder mixture home in a baggie along with their apple and directions. It’s a big hit at home, too!
Thank you Dee! I love the idea of adding the cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice. I bet your rooms smells amazing after this!
So much fun! I just did this with my 5 and 4 year old. We did 4 apples and added a few drops of different food coloring to each one before pouring on the vinegar. So we had a red, blue, green and yellow volcano!! So cool!
Love the addition of food coloring!