Six Chemistry Experiments for Elementary Students

The focus on STEM provides an opportunity to get elementary students interested in chemistry.

If you've never even taken one chemistry class, yourself, Education World has you covered with six elementary student-geared chemistry experiments for teachers to use in the classroom. From looking at water molecules to making volcanoes, teachers can educate their elementary students about chemistry and the scientific method. 

1. Water Molecules on the Move: In this experiment, students will see if hot molecules move faster that cold ones. 

What you need: 

• A clear glass filled with hot water
• A clear glass filled with cold water
• Food coloring
• An eye dropper

What to do:

• Fill the glasses with the same amount of water, one cold and one hot.
• Put one drop of food coloring into both glasses as quickly as possible.
• Watch what happens to the food coloring.

2. Baking Soda & Vinegar Chemical Volcano: Students will make their own volcanoes and see their own volcanic eruption with this easy experiment. 

What you need: 

• 3 cups flour
• 1 cup salt
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• Empty 20-oz drink bottle
• Deep plate or a pan
• Gel food coloring
• Dishwashing detergent
• Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
• Vinegar (dilute acetic acid)

What to do:

• Mix together 3 cups flour, 1 cup salt, 1 cup water and 2 tablespoons of cooking oil.
• Either work the dough with your hands or stir it with a spoon until the mixture is smooth. Add a few drops of food coloring to the dough to make it volcano-colored.
• Fill the empty drink bottle most of the way full with hot tap water.
• Add a squirt of dishwashing detergent and some baking soda (~2 tablespoons)
• Set the drink bottle in the center of a pan or deep dish. Press the dough around the bottle and shape it so that you get a 'volcano'. Be careful not to plug the opening of the bottle.
• Eruption: Pour some vinegar into the bottle (which contains hot water, dishwashing detergent, and baking soda).
• Make the volcano erupt again by adding more baking soda. 

3. Make You Own Fake Snot: Ick! Students can make their own fake snot and learn about mucus in the process. 

What you need: 

• Boiling water (be careful with this)
• A cup
• Gelatin
• Corn syrup
• A teaspoon
• A fork

What to do:

• Fill half a cup with boiling water.
• Add three teaspoons of gelatin to the boiling water.
• Let it soften before stirring with a fork.
• Add a quarter of a cup of corn syrup.
• Stir the mixture again with your fork and look at the long strands of gunk that have formed.
• As the mixture cools slowly add more water, small amounts at a time.

4. Make Glue: Students will get "into a sticky situation" after they learn how to make their own glue. 

What you need: 

• Skim Milk
• Baking Soda
• Vinegar
• Measuring Cup
• Measuring Spoons
• Paper Towels
• Rubber Band

What to do: 

• Add 2 tablespoons of vinegar to 1/2 cup of skim milk.
• Stir them together and let the mixture sit for two minutes. The vinegar will make the protein in the milk stick together to form small white lumps called curds. The leftover liquid is called whey.
• Strain the curds since you won't need the whey to make glue.
• To make a strainer, put a folded paper towel over an empty cup. Push it down in the center so it forms a bowl shape.
• Put a rubber band around the top of the cup to hold the paper towel in place. Pour the curds and whey into the cup with the paper towel.
• Use a spoon to carefully scoop out the curds. Put them between two dry paper towels and press down to get all the whey out.
• Put the curds into another cup, stir in two teaspoons of water and then add one teaspoon of baking soda. T
• he baking soda reacts with the vinegar that's in the curds, producing carbon dioxide.
• If you hold the mixture up to your ear, you can hear tiny bubbles popping.
• If this mixture doesn't look like glue, just add some water.

5. Fizzing Lemonade: Students will be able to make and drink their own science experiment. 

What you need:

• 1-2 lemons
• 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda/baking soda
• Cold water (at least equal to the amount of lemon juice)
• 1-2 teaspoons of sugar (to taste)
• Juicer
• Glass
• Spoon
• Measuring spoon

What to do:

• Squeeze (and strain) the juice of one lemon into a glass.
• Add 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda.
• Give it a stir to really get the reaction happening!
• Add some sugar to water to taste and add to lemon mixture.
• Taste your lemonade! 

6. Color Splash: Students will make see different splashes of color in water while they do this experiment. 

What you need: 

• 3 clear plastic cups
• Water
• Cooking oil
• Liquid food coloring
• Pencil

What to do:

• Fill one cup about 2/3 full of water and another about 2/3 full of oil.
• Add a few drops of food coloring to each cup. Leave space between the drops so they don't touch
• Fill the third cup about 2/3 full of water. Pour in enough cooking oil so it forms a thin layer on top of the water.
• What do you think will happen if you add food coloring to this last cup? Make a prediction and then test it out.
• Touch one of the drops of food coloring in the last cup with the tip of a pencil. 

Article by Kassondra Granata, EducationWorld Contributor