Lava in a Cup

First, add 3 inches of water to a cup. Next, pour 1/3 cup oil on top. Then, squirt 1 drop of food coloring. What happened?! The food coloring drop will sit on top of the oil. Grab a salt shaker and start sprinkling to get a reaction! Magically, "lava" will drizzle down and fill the cup! Watch closely and blobs will appear and shoot up to the top of the glass (salt dissolves and heads back to the surface). For the scientific explanation, check out Exploratorium Salt Volcano! For more blob activity pour a tsp of salt in (Science Bob).

Spiky Crystals

Grow crystals in your fridge with epsom salt and hot water!
Chemistry crystals (featured above) - Instructables
Cup of Quick Crystal Needles - About.com

You can also explore evaporation by growing crystals outdoors! Check out Exploratorium's Spiky Sun Crystals!

To incorporate this into a fossil unit, grow crystals on a sponge to investigate permineralization, visit Layers of Learning!

Speed Boat Chemical Reaction!

Create a chemical reaction to make a boat go from ZOOM! Similar to Bag Bomb, this experiment explores the three states of matter. Kids mix baking soda and vinegar to create CO2 to make their soda bottle boat zoom!

materials: 
empty soda bottle
toilet paper
baking soda
vinegar
marbles (or another object to weigh the boat down)
thumbtack or x-acto blade
a large tub of water

1. First, put marbles in the bottle and test it in water. You want the boat to be submerged.
2. Take the boat out of water. Make a hole in the bottle cap for air to seep out (using x-acto or tack). The hole should be submerged in water (when you place the bottle in the water).
Same instructions as Bag Bomb:
3. Pull off a strip of toilet paper (three sheets connected) and pour baking soda on the strip.
4. Fold and form a pocket to hold the baking soda (or roll it)
5. Add vinegar (1/4 of the soda bottle)
6. Drop the baking soda pocket in the bottle
7. Fast: Put cap on and quickly place in water!

FIZZ bombs

Explore the three states of matter by creating fizz bombs! Fizz bombs (aka bath bombs) are solid. You drop them in a bowl of water (liquid) and produce a bubbly, fizzing reaction (gas)! I, personally, wouldn't take a bath with one, but it makes a fantastic science experiment. The recipe comes from the Fitness Guru (click here for more detailed instructions).

materials:
1 cup citric acid
1 cup baking soda
1/2 cup light canola oil
1/2 cup cornstarch
food coloring (optional)

1. mix dry ingredients
2. mix oil and food coloring in separate container
3. add wet to dry ingredients
4. find a mold to shape them (the fitness guru suggests plastic eggs)

Once dry, drop them in water - solid, liquid, gas!

Marshmallows 101

Chemistry - Have fun munching and constucting a marshmallow atom!
Featured above:
3D model - Angelfire
Paper Plate "Electron Shells" - The Daniel Academy
2D model - Lights, Camera, Learn

More atom activities:
Over-sized outdoor atom on the blacktop - 5th Grade Rocks, 5th Grade Rules - kids play the role of the protons, neutrons, and electrons! Plus, many more hands on projects!
Scholastic - Chemistry for 3rd graders - lots of activities that kids can snack on!

photo via adventures of first grade

Geometry - If you don't eat all of your marshmallows, save them for a the classic toothpick and mini marshmallow geometry lesson! Kids construct outlines of 3D solids, as well as polygons. This is a great activity to help kids count the vertices of shapes! (Note: You will want to use dried spaghetti for the rectangular prism to get the correct number of vertices) Visit Adventures of First Grade for details! There is even a scavenger hunt to go along with this activity!

photo credit Tufts Now

Engineering - You can also just have fun free stylin'! Kids can become mini engineers and build skyscrapers and bridges! Who can make the tallest structure without it collapsing?! - link for tall structures here!

Black Snake Fireworks

photo credit: all spark fireworks

Celebrate the fourth of July with snakes! All Spark Fireworks conducted an awesome chemistry experiment, black snake fireworks! Kids are amazed as a super long snake grows and twists right before their eyes! The snake is simply "puffing ash" caused by the chemical reaction of carbonate and CO2! All you need is sand, powdered sugar, baking soda, and lighter fluid. Visit All Spark Fireworks for directions and the explanation! Click here and here to see black snake fireworks in action! Check out this video tutorial by Labconco Corporation to create multiple mini snakes!

Citrus Reaction: Natural Soda

Pour 2/3 of a glass of orange juice. Add 1 tsp of baking soda. Orange juice will bubble and fizz right before your eyes! Try this experiment out on other juices. The acid in OJ creates a citrus reaction with baking soda, releasing CO2. Apparently this mixture is good for your skin too. ;) I tasted it and it had a very unique flavor, not as good as sugary Sunkist! Visit Sunkist for more orange experiments! Visit Zoom for instructions on how to make Lemon Juice Rockets!

Bag Bomb

Create an explosion in a bag to explain the the three states of matter! LIQUID - Pour 1/4 cup of warm water into a ziploc bag. Next, add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the water (food coloring optional). SOLID - In a tissue, dump 3 tsp. of baking soda. Fold the tissue up like a square. Then, close the bag up, leaving space to drop the pouch. Zip it up, let go of the pouch, and watch the bag expand - GAS! Soon the bag will look like a giant bubble. What's happening inside: an acid-base reaction, creating CO2! QUICKLY, grab your bag and throw it! SPLAT, watch it pop! Visit Science Bob to turn this into a science fair project!

Glittering Gold Explosion

I saw this experiment over at Preschool Powol. This experiment isn't just for the little kids, elementary students would enjoy it just as well! I conducted it myself and it certainly turned out sparkly! All you need is 2 Tbsps of baking soda, 2 tsps of glitter, and 1/2 cup of distilled white vinegar. Add dry ingredients to a transparent, vase. Then, pour in the liquid for the bubbly! 

Cave Pillar Experiment

While studying rocks and minerals and learning about weathering / deposition, build your very own stalactite! Kids see the formation of  "drip stone" in limestone caves caused by "precipitated water solutions" (calcium carbonate / minerals) in just a few days! New formations (stalactites) are created in caves due to mineral deposition. These formations take many, many, many years to form! For the scientific explanation of the diy stalactite in Steve Spangler's video, click here!

Red Bull and Milk Reaction

Did you know if you mix milk with Red Bull, the milk will curdle? Pour milk (whole milk works best) into a glass. Then, pour Red Bull on top. Let the solution sit for five minutes. The acid in the Red Bull causes the protein (casein) in the milk to separate. This is a great experiment to do with a states of matter unit. When the milk curdles, a chemical reaction takes place, resulting in a precipitate. 

Below, Mr. Mishler's second grade class tested Red Bull on five types of milk.

Volcanic Slime

Combine the classic volcano experiment with gak to create exploding, sensorial fun! Kids can play with the gooey lava after the volcanic eruption!

materials:

1. watered down glue: 1-1/2 cups glue and 1-1/2 cups of water 

2. 1 tbsp of borax per quart of water (4 cups of water)

3. red food coloring

4. baking soda

5. vinegar 

DIY Magic Sand!

Magic Sand is sand that doesn't get wet! Regular sand absorbs water. Magic sand repels it! 
Visit Weird Science Kids for instructions and the science behind it!
Don't want to make it, you can buy magic sand at Steve Spangler Science 

Crystallized Rainbow

Sweet and Simple Things made a pipe cleaner rainbow and crystallized it in borax solution! Click here to see how they did it!

You can crystallize any shape or color in borax solution! You just need pipe cleaners. Borax does the rest, creating polymer crystals! Click here to see original post.

Wake Up the Yeast!

Over at Mama Scout, they conducted an experiment to see which foods would cause the most activity when paired with yeast. Have kids make a hypothesis and prediction: What variable will create the most bubbles / activity? Record yeast activity in a notebook. What was your conclusion?

materials:

freezer bags

warm water

measuring spoons / cups

yeast

variables (such as: water, grape juice, lemon juice, maple syrup, sugar, and candy)

how to:

Combine 1/4 cup of water, 1 tsp of yeast, and 1 tbsp of the variable in each bag. Now, watch the bubbles go!

UN-POP-pable!

Can you stick a skewer through a balloon without popping it? Don't sharp objects make balloons POP! Try this fun experiment from Steve Spangler and find out! Once you learn the trick, try skewing a train of balloons together!



explanation: "The secret is to uncover the portion of the balloon where the latex molecules are under the least amount of stress or strain. Now, try piercing the ballon through the center - POP!" - Steve Spangler

Now, try to spear a water filled bag with a pointy pencil! Can you pierce it without creating a leak? Check out Steve Spangler's un-pop-pable bag!

explanation: It's chemistry! "The plastic bag is made out of long chains of molecules called polymers. This gives the bag its stretchy properties. The sharpened pencils slip between the molecule strands without tearing the entire bag. Believe it or not, the long chains of molecules seal back around the pencil to prevent leaks." - Steve Spangler

FIZZ Inflator

Demonstrate the states of matter by building a fizz inflator. This a a fun experiment for a unit on states of matter. You combine vinegar (liquid) and baking soda (solid) to create a gas (carbon dioxide), which blows up the balloon. Before the experiment, have students make a prediction and write a hypothesis. After the experiment, have kids draw and label the parts of the fizz inflator (solid, liquid, gas) in their science notebook. Visit Science Bob to see basic fizz inflator instructions.

Edhsw.com created colored fizz inflators for their "miXscope movie of the week." Click here to check out their miXscope movie! They added food coloring to their vinegar. Then, they varied the amounts of baking soda in each bottle.

Magic Crystal Tree

Visit Steve Spangler for the explanation!

Non-Newtonian Glop aka Oobleck

Non-Newtonian Glop, Oobleck, Cornstarch Quicksand, they're all the same strange substance that make us question: Is it a liquid or a solid?! You can smack it, walk on it, punch it, and try to roll it into a ball. Yet, it still drips off of your fingertips. 

Now, are you ready to make your own?! You can find instructions at Steve Spangler.

Steve Spangler tested oobleck on a speaker and it danced! Above is a photo from Housing a Forest's experiment. They added color to their oobleck! Visit Housing a Forest and Steve Spangler for instructions!

Grow a Crystal Star

You can also create other shapes in different colors! Click here to make a rainbow!