Summer Science -- Elephant Toothpaste!

It's our almost-weekly summer science day! Today we talked chemistry and reactions. What happens when you mix things together? We did some basic balancing of our chemical reaction (lots of sketching of what atoms go where) and figured out we'd end up with some water and some O2 gas at the end. The water got foamy with the help of some added dish soap and the released O2. We had enough supplies to run the experiment several times and both kiddos had a blast dumping in the catalyst and playing with the foam. The kids thought the name "Elephant Toothpaste" wasn't the best fit, it's not minty or pasty, but if you're looking for this experiment that's how to find it online.

After their ceramics class at the local rec center the kids were on a crafty kick so we FINALLY got around to making the jet packs they've been wishing for all summer. Jet packs have been a crucial part of outdoor play ever since Emma showed up years ago with a jet pack made of a pizza box with duct tape straps. The official jetpacks are much, much cooler! There were a fair number of steps I had to do for them, like the spray painting and measuring the straps, but they worked hard on the flames and helping to put it all together.

2L pop bottles, silver spray paint, felt, cardboard, and straps. 

 They are already negotiating on whether they are space cadets or space explorers. The space explorer is going to teach the space cadet at space school until they are ready to become a full fledged explorer.