Inquiry and Experimentation at Work

The kinder kids had a blast experimenting with baking soda and vinegar this week.  It was interesting to listen to their predictions of what they thought was going to happening, listening to their exclamations of delight and their observations of what was occurring as the baking soda (a base) reacted to the vinegar (an acid).  It was also interesting to note their theories on why it happened and what it reminded them of (personal connections). 

A simple experiment like this helps the students learn through the inquiry and experimentation process (hypothesis, prediction, method of doing, observation, reflection and connections to real life and then trying the experiment again with a twist.  In our case, we used glitter). 

Note:  The glitter was the kinder kids way of "blinging" up our fun.  It looked neat, but did not affect the chemical reaction as they thought it might.  It was also interesting to note what happened to the glitter during the chemical reaction.  It collected into the bubbles and stayed trapped there until the bubbles burst.