1.  A Mentos Geyser

You’ll Need:
A two-liter of Diet Coke
One tube of Mentos

Instructions:
This activity is best done outside in the middle of your backyard.  Carefully open the bottle of soda.  Position the bottle on the ground so that it will not tip over.  Unwrap the whole role of Mentos and drop them into the bottle all at the same time.  Then run!

Science Behind It:
Each Mentos candy has thousands of pits on the surface.  As soon as the Mentos hit the soda, bubbles form on the surface of the candy and gas is released, literally pushing the liquid up and out of the bottle.

2.  A Volcano

You’ll Need:
Baking Soda
Dish Soap
Food Coloring
Vinegar

Instructions:
Pour a spoonful of dish soap in the bottom of a cup.  Next add two spoonfuls of baking soda and five drops of food coloring.  For the eruption pour vinegar on top and watch the volcano come to life.

Science Behind It:
The bubbly lava is a result of a chemical reaction between the baking soda and the vinegar, which produce carbon dioxide.  The soap adds the additional gas bubbles.

3.  Tornado in a Bottle

You’ll Need:
Two empty two liter bottles
Water
Food Coloring

Instructions:
Fill one of the two liters half ways with water.  Then add a few drops of food coloring.  Tape the mouths of the two bottles together to form an hourglass shape and give it a twirl.  The funnel shaped vortex acts just like a real tornado.

4.  Ooblick

You’ll Need:
Cornstarch
Food Coloring
Water

Instructions:
Combine the cornstarch and water and add food coloring to make it a fun color.  The mixture acts like a solid and a liquid.

Science Behind It:
The concoction is an example of a suspension, a mixture of two substances, one of which is finely divided and dispersed in the other.  With pressure applied the Ooblick is a solid and just sitting it’s a liquid.

5.  Color Changing Milk

You’ll Need:
Whole or 2% Milk
Dinner Plate
Food Coloring
Dish Soap
Cotton Swabs

Instructions:
Pour enough milk in the dinner plate to cover the bottom.  Add one drop of each color of food coloring close together in the center of the plate.  Plate a drop of soap on the cotton swab and place in the middle of the milk.  Watch the bursts of color!

Science Behind It:
Milk contains vitamins, minerals, proteins and fats, which are suspended in the solution.  When you add the soap it alters the weak chemical bonds in the solution.  This causes the fat and protein molecules to roll, bend, twist in all directions.