Dry Ice Experiment
Dry ice is a favorite mysterious
Halloween material, perfect for spooking up a witch’s cauldron, but did you
know that you can experiment with it too?
Dry ice is so cool (couldn’t
resist!), and makes for a fantastic (ventilated) kitchen or outdoor experiment.
Have you ever worked with it? The big caution is that you don’t want
to touch it less it burns your skin. Got that? So it has to be handled
with tongs and/or insulated gloves.
Read up on the cautions of using dry ice before proceeding, and always use your best judgment. I went
through all the warnings with N, and the dry ice earned a great deal of her
respect. She kept asking questions about how ice could burn us (it wouldn’t
make sense to me either if I were her age), and was very curious about how it
“smoked” on its way from our porch to the kitchen.
In case you’re wondering, I think
it’s smart to introduce kids to “dangerous” things. They’re naturally curious
about how the world operates, and given the proper instructions and parameters
these introductions can give them a good foundation for critical and creative
thinking. Have you heard of the The Dangerous Book for
Boys or The Daring Book for Girls? I have a copy of the latter that I know N will love when
she gets to be a bit older.
I found the dry ice at our
supermarket, and asked the manager to help me pack it up. They come in big bags
(perfect for cooling a fridge full of food, but far too much for this
experiment), and I understand that they may break smaller pieces for sale…it
sells by the pound at our market. To do this experiment, we used two pieces,
each the size of a button mushroom.
I filled the bottom of this metal
travel mug with about a cup of warm water, and dropped a piece of dry
ice in with kitchen tongs. The ice makes a surprising sound when handled by
the tongs!
The smoke is perfectly okay to
touch.
And blow.
Then we got fancy. N squeezed some
dish soap into the mug.
Surprise!
And it got even more exciting with
the addition of red food coloring.
And green, blue, and yellow food
colorings, too!
This project is great for
encouraging curiosity, setting the groundwork for scientific investigation
(observation and experimentation), and building creative confidence. A+ in
my book!
