Science- Week 5

Topic: Chemical Reactions

This week we experimented with five chemical reactions. Combustion, Synthesis, Decomposition, Single Displacement, and Double Displacement. To help the the children remember this, I taught them an easy mnemonic phrase. Come See Dad Sing and Dance. To remember the second word in the last two, just think that if Dad was to dance, he might displace (like dislocate) a bone. ;) 

I then demonstrated the activities suggested in our CCM book for week 5. The kids enjoyed blowing up a balloon with vinegar and baking soda. :) Ask them about our decomposition experiment, where I added a slice of potato to hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen Peroxide is H2O2. When you add a raw potato, it attracts one of the oxygen molecules (which we could see by the bubbles forming on the potato) causing the peroxide to turn into H2O- water! 

Here's a neat experiment you can try at home if you have 6% hydrogen peroxide (the kind you find at the store is only 3%):

http://www.sciencebob.com/experiments/toothpaste.php