Elephant toothpaste Yr 7&8 Reflection

                                                    STEAM

This week the topic was Fascinating water, so I decided to make elephant toothpaste with yr 7&8 students. Create a giant foaming reaction, and use science to wow your friends with this classic activity. With just a few ingredients you can make something that looks like foamy toothpaste being squeezed from a tube—but so big that it seems almost fit for an elephant.

 Materials: Empty plastic bottle, Dry yeast (found in the baking section of the grocery store), Warm water, Liquid dish soap, 3% hydrogen peroxide, Measuring cups, Measuring spoons, Safety glasses, Large tub or tray to catch the foam. 
1. Measure 1/2 cup of hydrogen peroxide, and carefully pour it into the bottle. 2. Add a big squirt of dish soap into the bottle, and swirl gently to mix. 3. To make your foam a single colour, add a few drops of food colouring directly into the hydrogen peroxide, and swirl the bottle gently to mix. If you want to give your foam stripes like some toothpaste, put the drops along the inside rim of the bottle’s mouth. Let them drip down the inside of the bottle, but do not mix.  4. In a measuring cup mix together one tablespoon of yeast and three tablespoons of warm water. Stir for about 30 seconds. 5. Pour the yeast mixture into the bottle then quickly step back, and watch your reaction go! 

Elephant toothpaste emerges out.

"Teach-in ways that enable learners to learn from one another, to collaborate, to self-regulate and to develop agency over their learning."