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My daughters and I continue to do our science lessons using Apologia Exploring Creation with General Science for our science course this year.
We’ve had a lot of fun doing multiple science experiments already using this book. I love how the suggested science experiments use easy-to-find (if not already on hand) supplies. I also like the hands-on approach the science experiments add to the reading.
You can click here if you are interested in seeing the books Apologia offers. Please keep in mind the science books are written from a creationist point of view.
I’ve talked about a couple of the science experiments we have already completed using Apologia Exploring Creation with General Science.
We did a simple science experiment that answered the question: do molecules move faster in cold or hot water.
We also did this simple science experiment when we discussed atoms and density.
I won’t be sharing every science experiment we do along with our current science lessons (there are over 50 of them!); however, today I am showing another simple science experiment we completed during our reading.
This was a neat experiment to show chemical reactions. The science book gives a detailed explanation of what the chemical reactions were, what substances interacted together, and what new substances were formed. I’m not going to get that detailed, but I will still show you what supplies we used and a general idea of the steps we did to complete this experiment.
Supplies
- clear, empty plastic 2 liter bottle
- white, distilled vinegar
- balloon
- 2 Tbsp baking soda
- funnel
- purple cabbage
- water
- small pot
- stove
- ladle
- measuring cups (1 c., 3/4 c., 1/2 c.)
- safety glasses
Directions
- Boil 2 cups of water in a small pot on the stove with some cabbage leaves. The water should turn purple. Let it cool for a little bit and remove the cabbage leaves.
- Pour 3/4 c. vinegar into 2 liter bottle.
- Pour about 1/2 c. of the purple cabbage water into the 2 liter bottle using a funnel.
- Notice the color change. The white vinegar and the purple cabbage water made the vinegar (an acid) red.
- Pour baking soda into the balloon using a dry funnel.
- Cover the lip of the 2 liter bottle with the balloon’s opening. Make sure the balloon is securely attached.
- Move the balloon so the baking soda falls into the mixture in the 2 liter bottle.
- Watch the chemical reaction occur as the mixture fizzes and the balloon gets bigger.
- Eventually, the mixture will stop fizzing.
- Notice how the red mixture has now turned purple when the baking soda (a base) was added.
It’s as simple as that!
“I’m a scientist…” from the book Jobs of a Preschooler
I ended up buying an entire head of cabbage for this experiment even though it only required a few leaves. As a result, we had quite a bit of cabbage left over.
Similar to when we did our grand pumpkin experiment, I searched online for a recipe so that I could use the left over cabbage pieces.
Who knew that these science lessons would lead to some cooking lessons as well? We ended up sampling some baked cabbage later that day.
“I’m a taste tester…” from the book Jobs of a Preschooler
What’s your favorite science experiment?
Brigitte Brulz 
One of my favorites with kindergarten students was “Blubber Glove!” We used ice water with Crisco and a double plastic glove system to learn about the insulating properties of blubber for many marine animals. They loved it!
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Thank you for sharing! That is a fun experiment that my daughters and I have also tried, but I didn’t know it was called “Blubber Glove”. What a fun name! When we tried it one of my daughters didn’t put the glove on, so she ended up with a hand full of the shortening. She quickly learned she needed more than just water to get the shortening off.
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