Team Moemoeā got to spend some time with a visiting scientist.

A man named Thom came to our classroom to teach us some chemistry. He told us he came from Victoria University. 

We went outside to do an experiment. After telling us to stand back, we watched eagerly as Thom mixed dishwashing liquid, Hydrochloric Acid, and Potassium Manganate together. Suddenly, the mixture exploded! Elephant toothpaste started spewing out of the beaker quickly, shooting up into the air. I could even see steam coming out of it! 

Since we didn’t yet know about how and why it happened, we were very amazed and surprised. I could hear my classmates shouting out “wow!,”“How is that happening?”, and “This is amazing!” Thom then gave us an explanation about the reaction. He told us about how the chemicals collide with each other, creating the reaction we saw. The lesson was very fun, and at the end, we watched him clean up the elephant toothpaste.