Halloween is coming! Families will be carving pumpkins and decorating their houses with them. When Halloween is over, these pumpkins will be thrown away, fed to animals, or tossed into compost piles. But... these pumpkins can be used for something fun and educational before being disposed of... science! Read on to learn more about a fun science experiment you can do with these leftover pumpkins.
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Making an oozing pumpkin is an exciting... and messy... way to teach children about chemical reactions. A chemical reaction occurs when two or more substances are combined together to create something new. In this experiment, you will combine vinegar and baking soda to make a 'foam' that consists of sodium acetate, carbon dioxide, and water.
For this science activity, you will need:
-
a carved pumpkin
-
dish soap
-
baking soda
-
vinegar
-
food coloring (optional)
Directions:
-
In a small bowl, combine some dish soap, food coloring, and baking
soda. Exact amounts aren’t
necessary. The more dish soap,
vinegar and baking soda you use, the larger the chemical reaction will
be! Mix everything
thoroughly.
-
Pour the mixture into the bottom of the pumpkin.
-
Slowly pour some vinegar into the pumpkin.
-
Stand back and observe. You
should see a big, foamy, mess ooze from the pumpkin’s eyes, nose, and
mouth!
This science experiment can be done more than once. Just dump everything
out of the pumpkin and repeat the process. You can experiment with
different amounts of vinegar, baking soda, and dish soap to see what happens.
Important Notes
Do NOT drink the vinegar or sodium acetate. It will make you
sick! Also, if you have a compost pile, do NOT put your oozing
pumpkin into it. Vinegar, baking soda, and sodium acetate will destroy
the beneficial microbes in your compost pile that makes everything decompose.
Did you enjoy reading about this oozing pumpkins STEM experiment? If so, check
out these blog posts for more pumpkins and STEM activities:
- Craft: Pumpkin Balloon Globes
- STEM: Minecraft Math Halloween Pixel Art
- STEM: Pumpkin Life Cycle STEM Activity
- STEM + Printable: Does Halloween Candy Sink or Float?
- Craft: How to Make a Paper Bag Pumpkin
This looks like so much fun to make! Can’t wait to try ��
ReplyDeleteHehehehe... when you do... be sure to use lots of newspaper and paper towels... it can be VERY messy!
DeleteThis looks like a fun and easy experiment. Definitely sharing with my mom friends.
ReplyDeleteIt really is an easy experiment to do to. I hope you and your friends have fun giving this experiment a try!
DeleteFabulous tutorial!! The kiddos will LOVE THIS!! I'd love for you to share over at our weekly Wednesday Creative Crafts Linky Party
ReplyDeletehttps://creativelybeth.com/creative-crafts-linky-party-9-join-in-the-fun/
Have a great week!
Creatively, Beth
Thanks Beth! I'll swing by and check it out! <3
DeleteI wonder if you could do this experiment then use the same pumpkin to do the life cycle experiment?
ReplyDeleteYou are the first one to ask me that question! Sadly, it more than likely wouldn't work to use the same pumpkin for both experiments. Vinegar and baking soda are often used in cleaning solutions because they help to kill germs, bacteria, and fungus... everything the pumpkin would need to decompose quickly. I'm honestly not sure what would happen if you used the same pumpkin for both... it could be the topic for another science experiment!
Delete