Fizzy Foamy Science

I love science, but it's not as important in the younger grades as reading, writing, and arithmetic, so it seldom makes it on our schedule. Sad, but true. Kara joined a science kit club last year thinking that if they sent us the kits one per month, the children would be excited when the kits arrived and therefore we would do the kit soon thereafter. So far, that plan is not working.

I purchased a science kit from Amazon.com last December--Fizzy, Foamy Science. I paid $16 for it. I was amazed when it arrived how little it contained--a small bottle of oil, a packet of baking soda, a packet of citric acid, a packet of yeast, some colored tablets (like Easter egg dye), two small cups, one funnel, two stirring rods, a tiny magnifying glass, and a black-and-white instruction pamphlet. The $2 in materials came packaged in a large 12"x10"x3" box. I was very underwhelmed with the kit.

The children made up for my lack of enthusiasm. They loved doing the experiments. We did the set of experiments in three sessions and every session they fought over who got to go first. I had to draw up a chart.

I'm not sure how much science theory they learned, but they had fun and we'll do more. We have another eight or so science kits waiting for us to break open.