Become a Bugstronaut Engineer!

Fizz. Pop. Fly!

Can you help Fizzbit the Bugstronaut return home?

This exciting hands-on STEM activity transforms children into real scientists as they investigate the perfect launch conditions for their bug-powered rockets. Every launch is packed with suspense, excitement, and scientific discovery!

Add water and a fizz tablet to the rocket tube, snap on the bug-topped lid, and wait…

At first, nothing seems to happen.

But inside the tube, something incredible is taking place. The tablet is fizzing away, releasing an invisible gas called carbon dioxide. The pressure builds higher… and higher… and then…

POP! WHOOSH!

Your Bugstronaut blasts into the air!

A Complete STEM Investigation Kit

Bring a little Fizz-Pop-Fly to Science Week! Bug Blaster gets pupils measuring, predicting and investigating through hands-on launching challenges. Teacher video guidance helps you get started, with a link to the support page sent when you purchase.

Bug Blaster isn’t just a rocket activity – it’s a complete scientific investigation that encourages children to:

Ask questions
Make predictions
Carry out fair tests
Measure and record results
Identify patterns
Draw conclusions
Think like real scientists and engineers.

Three Missions. One Bugstronaut. Endless Discoveries.

Mission 1 – The Launch Angle Challenge

Which launch angle makes your Bugstronaut travel the furthest?

Mission 2 – Fuel Efficiency Investigation

How many launches can one fizz tablet power?

Mission 3 – Launch Power Investigation

How does the amount of water affect your rocket’s performance?

Each mission encourages children to experiment, collect evidence, and improve their designs—just like real space engineers.

What’s Included?

Launch your Bugstronaut into the sky with this exciting fizz-powered rocket investigation kit. Decorate, experiment and discover the science of gas pressure and forces.

A classroom investigation kit for up to 30 pupils working in groups, with 10 reusable launchers, printed pupil resources and teacher guidance. Just add water and suitable eye protection.

10 reusable fizz rocket tubes

10 Bugstronaut toppers

5 tubes of effervescent fuel tablets (100 tablets)

30 Mission Complete Certificates

1  Printed Curriculum-Linked Teacher Guide – including launch instructions, safety guidance, scientific explanations, extension ideas and teacher support notes.

30  Printed Bug Blast Mission Log Booklets – an ink-saving pupil workbook featuring three exciting scientific investigations:

• Mission 1 – Launch Angle Challenge
• Mission 2 – Fuel Efficiency Investigation
• Mission 3 – Launch Power Investigation

Teacher Support Page: A dedicated support page with curriculum links, downloadable teaching materials and a step-by-step guidance video.

Plus…

Finally Home!

100 effervescent tablets supplied for your launch investigations. The number of launches per tablet varies with the conditions—discovering how many is part of Mission 2!

Reusable launchers and downloadable teaching resources for future investigations. Replenish tablets as needed and check tubes and lids for wear or damage before each session.

Minimal preparation required

Perfect for lessons, STEM clubs, science festivals and family events

Big launches. Big discoveries. Big smiles.

A still from Science2Life’s Bug Blaster teacher support video, featuring Scientific Sue demonstrating the equipment.

The Science Behind the Blast-Off

The fizzing tablets contain citric acid and sodium hydrogen carbonate (bicarbonate of soda).

Page 6 of the 14-page Fizz-Pop-Fly Teacher Mission Guide, providing scientific background, predicted results and teaching notes for the launch-angle investigation.

When they dissolve in water, they react to produce carbon dioxide gas.

Because the gas cannot escape, the pressure inside the tube increases.

Eventually, the pressure difference creates an outward force on the lid; when that force overcomes the lid’s grip, it pops off!

POP!

The lid launches into the air carrying your Bugstronaut with it.

Children explore:

Chemical Reactions
Gas Pressure
Forces and Motion
Variables and Fair Testing
Data Handling and Interpretation
Scientific Enquiry Skills

Bugstronaut Craft Zone

Before launch, children can personalise their rockets by decorating the tubes with stickers, drawings, colours, and mission logos.

Can you design your own space programme and give your rocket a mission name?

Because every great astronaut needs a great spacecraft!

Why Teachers Love It

Fully curriculum-linked STEM activity

Page from the 13-page Fizz-Pop-Fly Pupil Mission Booklet, where children receive an emergency transmission from Fizzbit and begin three exciting investigations to help launch him back into space.

Encourages scientific enquiry and investigative skills

Minimal preparation required

Highly reusable and cost-effective

Perfect for:

• Science lessons
• STEM clubs
• Science Week activities
• After-school clubs
• Transition programmes
• Family learning events

Suitable for ages 7–14 years.

Why Event Organisers Love It

• Huge WOW factor
• An exciting group activity, with children taking turns to launch, measure and record.
• Opportunities to decorate Bugstronauts and create their own mission designs.
• Easy to run with large groups
• Creates excitement and anticipation with every launch

Planning a make-and-take event? This kit includes 10 launchers. If you’d like every child to take one home, contact us to discuss quantities and pricing for your event.

Perfect for:

Science Festivals
Libraries
Holiday Clubs
Family Fun Days
Museums
Community Events
Birthday Parties

You’ll Also Need

• Water
• Paper towels (if working indoors)
• Small bucket for waste liquid
• Safety glasses or goggles

Mission Safety Checklist

Wear safety glasses or goggles when operating the launchers.

Activities must be supervised by an adult. Read the Teacher Guide’s preparation and safety instructions before starting.

Launch in a large, clear space, keeping spectators outside the launch and landing areas.

Point launchers away from people, pets, windows and other obstacles. Never lean over a loaded launcher.

No pop? The lid may not be fully clicked into place, allowing gas to escape. Follow the teacher guidance to remove the lid, reset the launcher and try again.

Collect Bugstronauts once launching has stopped and wipe up any spills.

More Than a Rocket Kit…

Bug Blaster combines:

Chemistry
Engineering
Physics
Mathematics
Creativity
Problem Solving

Children don’t simply launch rockets…

They become scientists on a mission to get Fizzbit safely home.

Because the best way to learn science… is to do science.

– Scientific Sue 

Sparks of imagination are at the heart of creativity!

The post BUG BLASTER LAUNCH LAB appeared first on Science2Life.

Turn ordinary water into a colourful chemistry investigation! Make your own red cabbage pH indicator and discover how everyday acids and alkalis change its colour.

Perfect for supervised experiments at home, classroom investigations and science clubs. Predict, test, compare and explore the science behind the colour changes!

Choose your pack size

• 1 × 20 g sachet — £2.50
• 3 × 20 g sachets — £6.50
• 5 × 20 g sachets — £10.50

A pH colour card is included.

Ingredients: 100% dried, powdered red cabbage.
Botanical name: Brassica oleracea L.
For science activities only. Not for human consumption.

Make your indicator

Each 20 g sachet makes approximately 1 litre of indicator at the suggested concentration.

1. Stir 10 g of powder into 500 ml of warm water.
2. Allow the colour to develop and the mixture to cool.
3. Let the cabbage particles settle, then pour off the coloured liquid. For a clearer indicator, filter it through a coffee filter.
4. Divide the indicator between small, clear containers, ready to investigate!

Want darker colours? Use more powder or less water.
Want lighter colours? Add more water.

Try a colour-changing investigation

Compare separate samples of your indicator:

• Add a little vinegar or lemon juice to one sample.
• Add a little baking soda dissolved in water to another.
• Keep a third sample unchanged for comparison.

What do you predict? What changes can you see? Use your colour card as an approximate guide.

Science in a nutshell

Red cabbage contains anthocyanins: pigments also found in red apple skins, purple grapes, plums and some red autumn leaves.

These pigments change colour depending on how acidic or alkaline their surroundings are. That makes red cabbage a natural pH indicator!

At room temperature:

Red cabbage pH indicator experiment showing colour changes from acid to alkali using common household items.

• Acidic solutions: pH below 7; typically pink or red.
• Neutral solutions: pH 7; typically purple.
• Alkaline solutions: pH above 7; typically blue, green or yellow as alkalinity increases.

The exact colour varies with the indicator’s concentration and the substance being tested. This is a colour guide, not a precise pH measurement.

What does pH tell us?
pH is linked to hydrogen ions in a solution. Lower pH means more hydrogen ions and greater acidity.

Why does it fizz?

Vinegar contains ethanoic acid, also called acetic acid. Baking soda is sodium hydrogencarbonate, also called sodium bicarbonate.

When they react, they produce a salt, water and carbon dioxide gas. The escaping gas makes the bubbles!

The final colour depends on how much acid and baking soda you use—it will not always be purple or neutral.

Red Cabbage Powder

Bath-bomb connection: Citric acid and baking soda create the fizz when a bath bomb gets wet. Soap can trap gas bubbles to make foam, but it is not needed for the fizzing reaction.

Save some science for later

Unused indicator can be frozen in a clearly labelled, dedicated ice-cube tray. Scientific Sue freezes hers in small portions and thaws a cube when she needs it!

Keep it separate from food and label it “Science indicator — do not eat or drink.”

Store the dry powder sealed in cool, dry, dark conditions.

Experiment safely

• Wear properly fitting safety goggles.
• Children must have adult supervision.
• Use small quantities and work on a tray to catch spills and fizz.
• Avoid breathing in the powder and wash your hands afterwards.
• Do not taste the powder or any experimental mixture.
• For these activities, use vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda. Do not use bleach, drain cleaners, caustic soda or ammonia.
• Never seal a fizzing reaction in a closed container.

For parents and teachers

Explore the science behind the colour changes with Scientific Sue’s educational video, covering the chemistry and safety considerations.

Watch Scientific Sue’s red cabbage science video

Some substances shown in demonstrations are unsuitable for children’s hands-on experiments. Follow the simple investigation and safety guidance above.

The post DRIED RED CABBAGE POWDER appeared first on Science2Life.