Homeschool Curriculum – Fizz and Foam Fun

If you’re looking for a cool science project to work on during your homeschool curriculum, this Fizz and Foam fun experiment should be just up your alley. You’ll get to create a really cool foaming concoction while learning about chemistry! More specifically, this experiment will fit into your homeschool curriculum when you start to learn about acids and bases.

To get started with the Fizz and Foam Fun project, you’ll need to gather a few materials:
    •    1 Tablespoon of baking soda
    •    1 Tablespoon of laundry detergent
    •    ¾ cup of water
    •    ¼ cup of vinegar
    •    Food coloring (the color choice is up to you!)
    •    One 12-ounce drinking glass (it’s best if it’s a clear glass that you can see through)
    •    One tray
    •    One teaspoon

Once you’ve gathered these materials together, you’re ready to get started. Here are the steps you’ll need to take:
    •    Put the drinking glass on the center of the tray. Add the baking soda, water, food coloring, and laundry detergent to the glass. Stir.
    •    Once the mixture has been stirred thoroughly, add the vinegar to the glass.
    •    Observe as the mixture quickly forms foam and bubbles over the rim of the glass. Make notes about your observations.

You’ve just observed the first chemical reaction in this experiment. What happened? Why do you think the mixture formed foam when vinegar was added? How does this experiment support what you already know about acids and bases?

Want to have a little more fun with this experiment? Gather some red cabbage juice (you might have to buy a cabbage for this variation). Substituting red cabbage juice for the food coloring, you can observe how the color of the mixture changes from blue-green to red-orange when you add the vinegar.

What other liquids could cause the mixture to change color with the addition of vinegar? How about grape juice? Apple juice? Play around with variations of your own. Be sure to record your observations during each step of this fun homeschool curriculum experiment.  

By the way, thousands of homeschool parents use the Homeschool Science Experiment Guide and workbook.  It doesn’t cost anything, and I think it has some of the best experiments out there in it.

Here’s what you observed:
After you take your own notes and think about what you’ve seen, it’s time to learn more about what you actually saw happen. Read on for a more in-depth explanation…

    •    You observed a chemical reaction between baking soda and vinegar. The color changes produced by different types of juices were a result of that reaction, in part.
    •    When you combine baking soda and vinegar, you create a gas call carbon dioxide. This gas causes the mixture to form bubbles.
    •    When you add laundry detergent to the mix, those bubbles become foam. This is because the laundry detergent simply makes the bubbles stay stronger longer.
    •    Because the reaction between the vinegar and baking soda was so strong, the carbon dioxide needed space to be released. However, it was trapped inside the bubbles, or foam. The foam poured out over the glass because the gas was looking for a way to escape.
    •    Basic chemistry facts you’ll need to know as part of your homeschool curriculum: Baking soda is also known as sodium bicarbonate, which reacts with acids. Vinegar is an acid.

Think about it harder:
Where can this chemical reaction be used in daily life? Are there any other examples of foams that are used commonly? Think about bread. Believe it or not, carbon dioxide gas is actually the chemical agent that causes bread to rise. A foamy cake is a good example of how this type of chemistry can be used in your daily life.

Pretty cool experiment with practical uses, huh?