Dancing Raisins Experiment: Simple Science Fun!

We had good, fizzy fun with the scientific method today as we performed a dancing raisins experiment! This one is a favorite of mine every year because it is so simple to prep and set up. All you need is some Sprite, a clear cup and one raisin for each child. Then, drop the raisins in the soda and watch the magic of science excitement fill the room!


This was our introduction to our Being a Scientist unit. 
We talked about each step of the scientific method along the way using these cute cards from Ginger Snaps
The kids felt like REAL scientists as they created a hypothesis, made observations and recorded along the way with a Raisin Experiment lab sheet from What the Teacher Wants

Thankfully, it doesn't say Dancing Raisins at the top of the worksheet because that would be a spoiler!
 I wanted the kids to be totally surprised and they were!


 Some students thought the raisin might explode. 
Others thought the pop might turn brown. 
One student was sure the teacher was going to shake the whole bottle of Sprite first and let it erupt everywhere! 
He must have seen that Diet Coke and Mentos experiment on an episode of MythBusters!


The kids were bursting with excitement as they saw our raisins begin to dance! 

We talked about how the carbonation in the pop is air. The bubbles attach to the rough surface of the raisin. When enough bubbles form, it makes the raisins bouyant and they rise to the top. At the surface, the bubbles pop and the raisins sink again.
 This was also a great experiment for tying in some review of solids, liquids and gases.

We decided NOT to dump out the cups afterward, but instead will leave them all weekend and return to make more observations of the changes we see on Monday! 

I just love seeing the kids get so excited about activities like these. 
I wish we had time in our days to do more!

This would be a super easy thing to have ready to go to keep your students engaged in the last remaining days! 

What are some of your favorite simple science experiments?


2 comments:

  1. What grade was this experiment suitable for?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Savannah! I did this with my second graders but I suppose you could adapt the recording sheet for older students or just do this as a demonstration with little ones! I hope you can give it a try!

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