Sparking Aha Moments

Aha! Your Child

There are many times when your child will give you an “aha” moment or just catch you off-guard and leave you totally speechless. I would like to share a simple science experiment to help you create your own “aha” moment with your child. The philosopher and French Author Francois de La Rochefoucuald said it best, “People rarely succeed at anything unless they have fun doing it.” The time spent with your child is priceless, carve out some time and just do it!

Dancing Noodles

Materials:

Uncooked pasta noodles broken into small pieces
Glass Jar
½ c. water
¼ c. vinegar
½ tsp. baking soda

Process:

Mix the water and vinegar in the glass jar.
In the same jar, slowly add the baking soda, pinch by pinch
Drop in pieces of pasta into the jar and watch what happens!

Explanation:

The vinegar and baking soda form bubbles which cling to the pasta. The gas bubbles make the pasta lighter and the pasta rises to the top of the glass. When the gas bubbles burst the pasta falls to the bottom. Gas bubbles attach to the past again and the cycle is repeated.

Variation:

Try a variety of noodles in the same glass! Try rigatoni noodles, alphabet noodles, and salad macaroni all at the same time! Watch the noodles dance at different tempos.
Try any of these in these activity and notice the similarities and differences:
Cooked spaghetti, cut into small pieces
Straws cut into small pieces
Raisins
Dried peas