Stephanie Dyck
Inquiry Based or Active Learning Lesson
Title of Activity: Magic Foaming Snowman
Curriculum/Learning Context:
LS2.2 Investigate interactions between liquids and solids, and technologies based on
those interactions [CP, SI, TPS]
a. Pose questions that lead to exploration and investigation of combining liquids and
solids.
d. Investigate and describe the changes in characteristics of familiar solids and
liquids resulting from processes such as mixing and dissolving liquids with liquids,
solids with solids, and liquids with solids.
This classroom activity would be most useful to show the students what happens
when certain substances are mixed together. Students will have prior knowledge on
what are solids, gases, and liquids, and what happens when these substances are
mixed together. This activity will show students what some effects of chemical
reactions are.
Materials:
Safety Concerns:
Baking Soda
- Possible to get solution in one’s eyes.
Dish Soap
- If a large amount of vinegar is added,
Salt
a larger amount of foam will form. It is
Vinegar
necessary to have a container large
Waterproof decorations (optional)
enough to hold the foam.
Procedure:
1. In small groups, students will be given a bowl, baking soda, vinegar, salt, and
dish soap.
2. Start by introducing the activity: Today we will examine what happens when
we mix certain liquids and solids together.
3. Perform the steps with the students:
a. In the bowl, measure two cups of baking soda.
b. Add two tablespoons of salt
c. Mix thoroughly
d. Add one teaspoon dish soap and mix it together with the dry ingredients.
Ask the students if they think they know the reason for adding dish soap
to the baking soda and salt.
e. Add 8 tablespoons of water. Your dough should form a ball.
f. If it is too dry and crumbly, add one tablespoon at a time until you have
dough that molds into a ball.
g. Decorate your snowman if you wish
4. Ask the students what they think will happen when they mix the vinegar to
the dough
5. Have the students add vinegar to their dough and watch it transform into a
mound of icy cold foam
6. Have the students hold the cold foam. Ask them why they think the foam is
cold. Have them think about why foam was created when vinegar was added.
Stephanie Dyck
Inquiry Based or Active Learning Lesson
Science:
Prior Knowledge:
Students will know the difference between solids, liquids and gases. Certain solids
mix well with liquids and some do not. Gases do not mix with either liquids or solids.
New information:
When two or more substances are mixed together, a change may occur and another
substance is created. This is known as a chemical reaction.
In this experiment, chemical reactions occur when an acid and a base interact with
one another. Carbon dioxide is created when vinegar, the acid, and baking soda, the
base, mix together.
When soap is added to the baking soda-vinegar mixture, bubbles result. When
carbon dioxide is released, it blows bubbles in the soapy mixture. This chemical
reaction needs heat to make it occur. It takes the heat from its surrounding area, the
air, leaving the foam feeling cold.
Relevance in the Real World:
Chemical reactions occur in everywhere. Chemical reactions also occur in our bodies
when we breathe and take medication. Reactions also occur in plants,
photosynthesis. Chemical reactions also occur when we bake. As ingredients react
with one another, gases are released causing the dough to rise. This is why baking
soda is added.
References:
Citro, A (2013, December) Foaming Dough Recipe: Magic Foaming Snowman.
Retrieved March 5, 2015, from Fun at Home with Kids:
http://www.funathomewithkids.com/2013/12/foaming-dough-recipe-magicfoaming.html.
Citro, A (2014, August) How to get the Best Baking Soda and Vinegar Reaction!
Retrieved March 5, 2015, from Fun at Home with Kids:
http://www.funathomewithkids.com/2014/08/how-to-get-best-baking-soda-andvinegar.html
deBoeck, (2011, May) Reaction of vinegar with bicarbonate of soda. Retrieved
March 6, 2015 from http://www.webinnate.co.uk/science/week2.htm.
Retrieved March 6, 2015 from
http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/phy03.sci.phys.descwrld.lp_chemical/
substances-and-chemical-reactions/.
Stephanie Dyck
Inquiry Based or Active Learning Lesson
Rationale
I chose this activity for Grade 2 because it is engaging to the students.
Students love being able to mix the ingredients together themselves. When the
vinegar is added, students are able to see the reaction occur and the foam grow as it
mixes with the baking soda and soap. This experiment is a twist from the traditional
experiment where vinegar and baking soda are mixed together. Adding dish soap,
allow students to see the effects of gas from the chemical reaction.
A modification that can be made from the original experiment is to make
smaller ‘snowmen.’ Cutting the recipe in quarters does this. Rather than using two
cups of baking soda, half cup can be used. A benefit of doing so is each student can
have his or her own snowman. This can be done in a class where the students do not
perform well together and they need to work by themselves or if you want students
to test what happens if you mix different amounts of baking soda and vinegar.
I chose this activity for outcome LS2.2 because it examines the effects of
mixing certain liquids and solids together. Students will ask questions about what
happens when substances mix together and investigate what occurs when
substances are mixed together. Chemical reactions are a result of mixing certain
substances together. Because chemical reactions are more advanced, I would use
this activity at the end of a unit after the students learned about mixing liquids and
liquids, and liquids and solids.