I've decided to start charting my daughter's educational progress online. Thus I will be documenting the activities we will do/have done, what I hope she will learn from them and what she actually learned.
Today's activity was a simple science experiment. All the necessary ingredients should already be around the house: old toothbrush, soap, two containers (preferably flat bottomed), vinegar, salt and old pennies.
I set up two containers one with soap and water and the other with vinegar and a teaspoon of salt. Next I gave her a few pennies to scrub in the soap and water. But before she started scrubbing I showed her an equally dirty penny that I placed in the vinegar.
When she had determined that she had cleaned the penny I helped her dry it on the towel. Then we took the penny from the vinegar and compared it to the soap scrubbed penny. She was so amazed by the shiny penny that she immediately began putting all her soap scrubbed pennies into the vinegar. (Of course scrubbing pennies was still fun so she scrubbed each penny before adding it to the vinegar.)
The experiment was to introduce her to the concept of acids and bases. I did not go into much detail as she is quit young. However, if you'd like to go into more detail with your child the vinegar contains acetic acid, which is what gives vinegar its sour taste. The acid (CH3COOH) reacts with copper oxide (CuO), the patina on the penny caused by the copper reacting with the oxygen in the air, to form copper acetate (Cu(CH3COO)2) and water (H2O). Because the copper acetate is water soluble it washes away leaving a shiny penny behind.
My daughter is only three and she likely only took away the idea that chemical reactions occur. Though I doubt she would think about it in such fancy terms. Still it was a beginning and it kept her occupied for quite some time.
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