As part of our literacy our tamariki became very interested in science experiments so we dropped everything and learned how to follow the scientific procedure.

During literacy in Week 5 our learners were reading a journal about the Great Barrier Reef. In it there was information about the acidification of the ocean and what changes like this were doing to our ocean climate. The idea of acids sparked a lot of interest from the group and the surrounding groups so we decided to leap into some science in our afternoons.

We started by talking about what we knew about science and experiments, realising that the biggest thing we knew was that we enjoyed them. With a video of some colour changing "water" we leapt into an experiment to find out if we could group chemicals using red cabbage water as a test with some every day ingredients that you would find around the house such as baking powder, vinegar, salt and bleach. There were some fascinating colours, pinks and greens especially, even one that turned yellow but when the group went to write down it had turned yellow they looked up and it was colourless.

Next up we set up an experiment to see what would happen if we tried to get a reaction out of two different household chemicals. Test tubes overflowed with some of the reactions and we discovered we were producing a lot of gas around the room, mostly carbon dioxide. The vinegar and baking soda reaction began as the favourite but some groups found the baking powder was a lot slower but eventually a lot more interesting to watch.

Our final experiment had us creating our own lava lamps using water, food colouring, Disprin tablets and oil. It was another messy affair with many of the test tubes overflowing with a vigorous reaction. Some however, created a fabulous looking lava lamp that slowly bubbled and swirled.

It has been brilliant to get the test tubes and droppers out as we have experimented through the week. 

If you are keen to get into some more exciting science experiments sciencekids.co.nz is a great site to get some ideas.