Below are ideas for extending this topic beyond the activity & exploration which you just completed.

• Lesson Assessment and Answer Key
• Readings: Three readings to get your students thinking about the gases that are all around us.
• Activity: Use a chemical reaction to fill a balloon with carbon dioxide.
• Picture discussion: A three-part discussion of the bubbles that make bread rise. (Part 1, part 2, & part 3)

These readings will get students thinking about the gases that are all around us.

• The engine of a car uses a series of small explosions to turn fuel into motion. Wonderopolis, a site that answers intriguing questions, explains how.
• What common gas do Swiss cheese and Pop Rocks have in common? Read this article from Kids Discover to find out!
• Way up in the air discusses how dust from outer space helps scientists figure out what the Earth’s atmosphere was like long ago. This article is free with registration on Newsela.
  

Activity: Inflate a balloon

Follow these instructions, to fill a balloon with carbon dioxide, the same gas that filled your plastic bag. Try the experiment, and then:

• Draw a picture that shows what makes the balloon inflate.
• Predict what will happen if you pinch the neck of the inflated balloon, take it off the bottle, then let it go. Draw a picture that shows what’s happens when you do that — and why it happens.
  

If you have time, experiment to figure out what ratio of baking soda to vinegar produces the most gas (and the biggest balloon).

Discussion: Bread bubbles (part 1)

Look at the holes in this slice of banana bread. Each hole was made by a bubble that formed while the bread was baking. Those bubbles made the bread rise.

Go to the next slide to discuss where those bubbles came from.

Discussion: Bread bubbles (part 2)

Here are the ingredients used to make banana bread:

Discuss:

• Why do you think bubbles formed in the batter?
• What do you think would happen if you left out the vinegar?

See previous slide for a view of the holes in banana bread. See next slide for more about the bubbles in bread.

Discussion: Bread bubbles (part 3)

Any bread or cake that rises as it bakes has bubbles in the batter. Take a look at some bread recipes. Can you figure out which ingredients make bubbles in each recipe?

If you need help, check out this extensive discussion of leavening agents. (A leavening agent is a substance that produces gas to make bubbles in a batter.)