Summer Science Lesson Plan: Acids and Bases



Summer Science Lesson Plan: Acids and Bases

Overview/Motivation:

• Expose the students to acids and bases

• Learn what common things are acidic and basic

• Learn how indicators are used to determine acidity and basicity

Materials:

• Red Cabbage Juice (for indicator, prepared ahead of time)

o ½ head of red cabbage grated (or diced)

o Boil in pot of water for 20-30 minutes to produce juice (must strain off cabbage), which should be purple in color

o pH scale:

▪ 2 – Red

▪ 4 – Purple

▪ 6 – Violet

▪ 8 – Blue

▪ 10 – Blue/Green

▪ 12 – Green/Yellow

• Things to test for acidity/basicity

o Coke (maybe Sprite or 7-Up to get rid of color)

o Bleach

o Vinegar

o Baking Soda (dissolved in water)

o Lemon Juice

o Tums/Rolaids

o Ammonia

o Milk

o Detergent

o Water

• Plastic cups for mixing

• Pan to put under baking soda/vinegar experiment at end

Goals:

• Students should leave with a basic understanding of acids, bases, indicators, and their applications in life

• They should understand the possible outcomes of acid/base reactions

Vocabulary:

• Acid (I’m having trouble getting a good definition at a child’s level for these)

o Taste sour

• Base

o Taste bitter

o Feel slippery

• Indicator

o Substance that changes color when mixed with something to reflect whether what was added was basic or acidic

• Reaction

o What happens when two substances are mixed together

Introduction:

• Bring out bowl of cabbage juice, ask children what they think it is

• Tell them it is red cabbage juice, which can be used to tell the difference between two special kinds of substances, acids and bases

• Ask if they know what acid is

• Explain that acids are usually things that are sour, and that some can be dangerous while others are totally normal things that they encounter every day

• Ask if anyone knows what a base is

• Tell them that bases usually taste bitter, make their hands feel slippery, and like acids, occur as things they encounter every day, but can also be very dangerous

• Tell them that they will now do some experiments to find out what common things are acids, and what common things are bases

Demonstration:

• Put the children in pairs or groups of threes, depending on how many are in the class and how much supplies we have

• Set up 9 cups for each group, and pour some red cabbage juice into each cup

• As a group, take some coke and pour it into the cabbage juice

• Ask the children what happened to the color of the cabbage juice (it should turn more red, as coke is relatively acidic)

• Tell them that because it turned red, this means that coke is an acid (can add something about how if you leave a tooth in coke for a week or 2, it will dissolve, and so on)

• Repeat for each of the different products

Discussion:

• Explain to the children the role of acids and bases in their everyday lives

• Ask them what they think acids are used for after doing the experiment

• Ask them the same for bases

• Remind them that not everything is an acid or base, but that some things are neutral (like water)

Q/A:

• Let them ask any questions that they have

• After questions are over, quickly tell them that when acids and bases mix together, a variety of reactions can occur, some of them being very dangerous, and others being cool to watch

• At this point, mix vinegar and baking soda together to make the volcano-like eruption for the children (hopefully leaving them excited and interested)

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