Overview:
Throughout this experiment, students will experience a simple chemical reaction between baking soda and vinegar causing the worms to dance! Students will gain insight on a fun and creative way to experience science through their favorite candy!
Time:
20-25 minutes
Lesson Materials:
*You can use the document in the link below to either: tailor the experiment to your needs or to have a printable version of this lesson plan*
Dancing Gummy Worms Lesson Plan
The plan is editable and printable. Copy the Google Doc in your own drive and make edits or you can just print.
Dancing Gummy Worms Experiment Video:
Learning Objectives:
- Create a scientific chemical reaction.
- Analyze how baking soda and vinegar react together to create carbon dioxide bubbles.
- Apply this experience to real chemical reactions in the environment.
- Understand the concept of combining two reactants to create a reaction.
Materials Needed:
- 4-5 Gummy Worms
- Cutting Tool
- 2 Glass cups or jars
- ¾ cups of water
- 2-3 spoonfuls of Baking Soda
- Vinegar
- Scissors
- Gloves (optional)
- Paper Towels (optional)
- Fork or Spoon (optional)
Experimental Methods:
- Gather about 4-5 gummy worms and cut them in half vertically, the thinner they are the more effective the experiment will be.
- Fill up a glass cup or jar with ¾ of warm water.
- Add 2-3 spoonfuls of baking soda into the glass cup or jar then stir it up.
- After stirring, add the gummy worms into the glass cup or jar then stir again.
- Let the worms soak for about 15 minutes.
- Next, fill up your second glass cup or jar with vinegar.
- After about 15 minutes of the worms soaking, take the worms out of the cup with your hands or utensils and drop them into the cup or jar filled with vinegar.
- Lastly, watch the worms dance!
Project Extension Suggestions
- Have students count out the number of worms they put into the glass.
- As students put worms into the baking soda mixture, have them analyze if they see anything occurring in the glass.
- As students are waiting during the 15-minute duration, ask them what they think will happen when they put the worms into the vinegar mixture.
- As students put worms into the vinegar mixture, ask them how they see the worms moving and why they might be moving
Questions to Think About:
- Will using a plastic cup or jar make a difference in the experiment?
- Does the experiment react the same with other candies?
- What did you observe when you put the worms into the cup of vinegar?
- What causes the gummy worms to wiggle and float to the top of the cup or jar?
- How do baking soda and vinegar play roles in chemical reactions in reality?
- Do you think the worms will wiggle continuously or will they stop?
Chemistry:
The Dancing Worms experiment allows students to experience how chemical reactions occur by using at-home appliances. Baking soda and vinegar are two substances that when mixed together create a reaction of carbon dioxide. Carbon Dioxide is a gas which means that the reaction is simply turning a liquid and a solid into a gas. The gummy worms are used to reflect that gas is forming when they dance and bump into each other.
Society:
The experiment shows children how chemical reactions occur in the real world even though we cannot see them all the time. The environment consists of many reactants and chemical reactions happen everyday, therefore this experiment is an introduction to how it all works. It is a very easy representation of how mixing two substances together creates a reaction.
Logistics:
STEAM Subjects:
Science (Chemistry) and Art
Science Vocabulary:
- Reactants
- Gravity
- Mixture
References:
- Heinecke, Liz. “Kid-Friendly Science: Dancing Frankenworms Experiment.” Scholastic, 2017, www.scholastic.com/parents/school-success/learning-toolkit-blog/kid-friendly-science-dancing-frankenworms-experiment.html.
- Video
