Richardson 1
Summer Science Lesson Plan: Acids and Bases
Overview/Motivation:
 Expose the students to acids and bases
 Learn what common things are acidic and basic
 Learn how indicators are used to determine acidity and basicity
Materials:
 Red Cabbage Juice (for indicator, prepared ahead of time)
o ½ head of red cabbage grated (or diced)
o Boil in pot of water for 20-30 minutes to produce juice (must strain off
cabbage), which should be purple in color
o pH scale:
 2 – Red
 4 – Purple
 6 – Violet
 8 – Blue
 10 – Blue/Green
 12 – Green/Yellow
 Things to test for acidity/basicity
o Coke (maybe Sprite or 7-Up to get rid of color)
o Bleach
o Vinegar
o Baking Soda (dissolved in water)
o Lemon Juice
o Tums/Rolaids
o Ammonia
o Milk
o Detergent
o Water
 Plastic cups for mixing
 Pan to put under baking soda/vinegar experiment at end
Goals:
 Students should leave with a basic understanding of acids, bases, indicators, and their
applications in life
 They should understand the possible outcomes of acid/base reactions
Vocabulary:
 Acid (I’m having trouble getting a good definition at a child’s level for these)
o Taste sour
 Base
o Taste bitter
o Feel slippery
 Indicator
Richardson 2

o Substance that changes color when mixed with something to reflect whether
what was added was basic or acidic
Reaction
o What happens when two substances are mixed together
Introduction:
 Bring out bowl of cabbage juice, ask children what they think it is
 Tell them it is red cabbage juice, which can be used to tell the difference between two
special kinds of substances, acids and bases
 Ask if they know what acid is
 Explain that acids are usually things that are sour, and that some can be dangerous
while others are totally normal things that they encounter every day
 Ask if anyone knows what a base is
 Tell them that bases usually taste bitter, make their hands feel slippery, and like acids,
occur as things they encounter every day, but can also be very dangerous
 Tell them that they will now do some experiments to find out what common things
are acids, and what common things are bases
Demonstration:
 Put the children in pairs or groups of threes, depending on how many are in the class
and how much supplies we have
 Set up 9 cups for each group, and pour some red cabbage juice into each cup
 As a group, take some coke and pour it into the cabbage juice
 Ask the children what happened to the color of the cabbage juice (it should turn more
red, as coke is relatively acidic)
 Tell them that because it turned red, this means that coke is an acid (can add
something about how if you leave a tooth in coke for a week or 2, it will dissolve, and
so on)
 Repeat for each of the different products
Discussion:
 Explain to the children the role of acids and bases in their everyday lives
 Ask them what they think acids are used for after doing the experiment
 Ask them the same for bases
 Remind them that not everything is an acid or base, but that some things are neutral
(like water)
Q/A:
 Let them ask any questions that they have
 After questions are over, quickly tell them that when acids and bases mix together, a
variety of reactions can occur, some of them being very dangerous, and others being
cool to watch
 At this point, mix vinegar and baking soda together to make the volcano-like eruption
for the children (hopefully leaving them excited and interested)