This week in Jeffers room we did a special Halloween science experiment which we called, the Jack-O-Lantern Eruption.
This was a simple science activity that the children were very excited about. To prepare for the experiment we made sure we had all our ingredients at the ready: baking soda, vinegar, food colouring and dishwashing liquid. The children were very interested when they saw all the ingredients and wondered what we would be doing. Most of the ingredients we used are simple ingredients which can be found around the house and when used in the right way, the children can also learn and have fun at the same time. 

In order to do the experiment, we needed to create a base to hold the ingredients together; for this purpose we used a can and drew a face on it and got the children to paint it. We then put baking soda into the tin and then we add the food colouring on top and also the dishwashing liquid, and then finally we added the vinegar and then stood back to watch the fantastic eruption happen. 

Our Jack-O-Lantern eruption experiment provided a great example of a chemical reaction and it prompted lots of questions and discussion about what happened and how it happened; the children love experiments that involve lots of explosions or colours. There were lots of excited reactions coming from the children because of the experiment; the science project was a hit for them. The children are learning about chemistry which is a very interesting topic that covers all state of matter such as liquids, solids and gasses, which we see in our everyday lives.  Chemistry occurs between two or more substances and causes a change to make a new substance.

In this instance, we used acid as a form of liquid and vinegar to make this reaction; the cause and effect of the experiment created an explosion of bubbles and and the auditory experience of the gas as well. This is because the dish soap was added to create a bigger quantity to make the gas and form bubbles which gave the activity a more interesting kick and formed a robust experimenting that blew up from the pumpkin like a volcano.