Grow a Balloon

by Keli Back
(Versailles, KY, USA)

Bumper Crop

Bumper Crop

The purpose of my science fair project was to demonstrate how matter can change state. In this case I used a chemical reaction to change a liquid into a gas.


I added 1 cup of vinegar to a small plastic flask. Next, I filled a round balloon with baking soda and stretched the opening around the opening of the flask. When I tipped the balloon up, the baking soda dropped into the vinegar, creating a foamy substance and gas, blowing up the balloon.

I set up the demonstration multiple times for the many people who visited my project at the science fair. Most of the time it was successful, but a few times I ripped the balloon when trying to stretch it around the opening of the flask. Regardless, my demonstration was always a hit with the audience. I would definitely do it again.

Today I am an elementary science teacher and I believe strongly that science fairs are an incredible learning experience for students as young as 3rd grade. People often argue that parents do all the work, but doing research, conducting experiments, and collecting/analyzing data with or without help teaches children how to 'do' science. As they get older, the scientific method and process skills start to make better sense because they have these science fair experiences in their background.

Barry's Response - What's good for the children is good for society. Thank you, Keli, for your detailed description and for being good for the children. I'll bet you still use this demonstration whenever appropriate.

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Comments for Grow a Balloon

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nice
by: haifriends

The article is much entertainment to read and also, it helps to improve knowledge.

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Balloon growth
by: Anonymous

The balloons in the photo were exciting and good. It was such a nice article. The information is also good.

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Balloon
by: Anonymous

wow, such a nice article. The image is so colourfull. The informations are very nice.

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Thank you to my research and writing assistants, ChatGPT and WordTune, as well as Wombo and others for the images.

GPT-4, OpenAI's large-scale language generation model (and others provided by Google and Meta), helped generate this text.  As soon as draft language is generated, the author reviews, edits, and revises it to their own liking and is responsible for the content.