Mad Science Monday: Lemon Volcanoes

Nothing says summer to me quite like the smell of freshly squeezed lemons, so when life gives you lemons--make lemon volcanoes?! Well, that's what we did, anyway for this week's Mad Science Monday as a continuation to our exploration of fizzy science experiments. But unlike our other baking soda and vinegar science activities, this one has no vinegar (and in my opinion, a much better smell).

I was very excited when I found The Best Smelling Science Activity: How To Make a Lemon Volcano on Babble Dabble Do. Truth be told, I've never done fizzy science here with anything other than baking soda and vinegar, so I was just as eager to try it out as my junior scientists, S and Y. I also love that the author of the post explains and expands upon the science behind why lemon juice reacts with baking soda. S has been so interested in volcanoes lately and we had a bag of lemons on the move list in our fridge, so we were ready to go today!

We set up shop with a little prep by me for the sake of saving time, but kids can help with just about every step here as is age appropriate. I cut the bottom off of two lemons for each of the participating scientists so they could sit flat in our trays. Next I cored the top. I squeezed a couple of drops of food coloring into each lemon, a different color in each one to add some color mixing action. Your scientists can choose their colors. I squeezed the juice out of the remaining lemons we had and poured it into squeeze bottles. Little hands love juicing lemons and other citrus fruits, so feel free to include them. I poured a bit of baking soda into a container and added a plastic spoon and a wooden craft stick for scooping and mixing action. Lastly, I added a drop of dish soap into each lemon for extra bubbling action, but you can leave this step out altogether if you want your experiment to be completely taste safe. (That being said, one of our scientists did ask if he could taste the combo of lemon juice and baking soda and declared it was not very yummy!)

And it was volcano time! The boys like to have safety goggles for fizzy science and it's not a bad idea to protect their eyes from splashes that may erupt...

This experiment totally impressed everyone involved! We started by scooping some baking soda into the lemons and the boys got right down to squeezing in some added lemon juice for more bubbling action. Mixing the concoction inside of the lemon volcanoes increased the eruption as well. 

Colors mixed, bubbles emerged, baking soda was added and more lemon juice. When S ran out of juice in his bottle, he decided to test out squeezing the lemon volcanoes and it worked! Y was curious what adding water might do and asked if he could fill up his bottle with some and pour it in. Sure! I always say that fizzy science is self cleaning science. That said, it's messy in action. The bonus is that when it is time to clean it up, you don't need to add any cleaners to the process. A wet rag (and maybe a few dry ones as well) will do the trick. Food coloring can stain, so take the necessary precaution to protect clothing and surfaces, though ours was so diluted by the time it bubbled to the surface, I wasn't worried. S dug right in with his hands and played in the concoction for quite some time, declaring that it felt like soap in his hands! Y poured the remaining baking soda into his tray and mixed it all together. A great time was had by all! 

In related news, we need more lemons...

Happy Playing!