Fizz! Pop! Fly!

Prepare for liftoff! The Bug Blast Launch Lab combines hands-on science with out-of-this-world fun as children launch their bugstronauts sky-high using fizz-powered rocket tubes.

Each kit includes:

• 10 reusable fizz rocket tubes
• 10 bug toppers
  

  A young scientist launches the Pop–Fizz–Fly bug rocket — learning that science really is a blast with Scientific Sue!

• Vitamin C tablets (enough for 2 per child)
• Mission Control Launch Guide
• Bug Blast Mission Log

Big fun, big learning, and big wow factor!

You’ll Also Need:

• Water
• Paper towels – if working indoors
• Safety glasses (recommended)

Curriculum Links:

• KS2/3 Science: Forces and Motion
• KS2/3 Science: Reversible and Irreversible Changes
• Working Scientifically: Planning, Measuring, and Recording

Bugstronaut Launch Instructions

Pop – Fizz – Fly! Get Ready for Launch

Peel off the sticky backing from your Bugstronaut’s feet and stick them firmly onto the outside of the rocket lid.
Make sure your Bugstronaut is safely attached and ready for the ride!

Add the Water

Pour one tablespoon (15 ml) of water into your rocket tube.
This is your starting volume — you can experiment later to see how the amount of water affects your launch time and flight height.

Pop in the Tablet

Drop in one vitamin C tablet — this is your rocket’s fuel!
This is a starting amount — you can experiment later to see how changing the amount of tablet affects the height and time to lift-off.

Fizz!

The tablet fizzes in the water, producing carbon dioxide gas (CO₂).
As the gas builds up, it increases pressure inside the closed tube.

Fly!

Quickly push the lid on tightly, keeping it pointed away from your face.
Place your rocket upright and step back (or hold it out at arm’s length).

Now wait for lift-off!
You won’t see the pressure building — but it’s happening inside the tube!

The time it takes for your Bugstronaut to blast off depends on:
1⃣ How much carbon dioxide gas (CO₂) is being produced, and
2⃣ How firmly you pushed the lid on.

When the pressure becomes too great… POP!
The lid flies off at speed, and your Bugstronaut blasts into the sky!

Did You Know?

Gas pushes outwards in all directions inside your rocket tube.

As the fizzing tablet reacts with the water, it produces carbon dioxide gas. The tube already contains air, so the carbon dioxide molecules mix with the air molecules inside the tube.

Because there are now more gas molecules moving around in the same fixed space, they collide with the sides and lid more often. These collisions increase the pressure inside the tube.

When the force pushing upward on the lid becomes greater than the friction holding it down, the lid pops off and launches your Bugstronaut!

Why Schools Love It

• Reusable & cost-effective → once you have the kit, it can travel class to class
• Perfect for STEM lessons, science clubs, and school events
• Includes full safety guidance and curriculum-linked science notes

Why Parties & Festivals Love It

• Make-and-take activity → each child decorates their rocket tube, launches their bugstronaut, and takes their kit home
• Brilliant for birthday parties, holiday clubs, and science festivals
• Exciting group launches

Bug Blast Launch Lab

Can you get the bug home?

Mission Briefing

Your bugstronaut is about to embark on a daring space mission — but first, we need to fuel the rocket! Add water and a fizz tablet to your rocket tube, snap the bug-topped lid into place… and wait.

Nothing seems to be happening at first, but inside the sealed tube, something incredible is going on. The tablet is fizzing away, releasing an invisible gas called carbon dioxide. As the gas builds up, the pressure rises higher… and higher… and HIGHER…

Suddenly — POP! WHOOSH! Your bug blasts skyward, ready to return home to its planet! Can you aim carefully enough to land your bug safely in its home planet bucket?

What’s Happening Inside the Tube?

The fizzing tablet contains citric acid and sodium bicarbonate (sodium hydrogen carbonate). When they mix with water, they react to make carbon dioxide gas. The gas has nowhere to escape, so it builds up inside the sealed rocket tube. When the pressure becomes too much, it forces the lid off — and your bugstronaut launches into orbit!

This thrilling moment is a perfect way to explore:

• Chemical reactions (acids + bases → gas)
• Gas pressure (invisible forces at work)
• Rocket science (Newton’s Third Law: for every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction)

Bug Blast Launch Lab — Mission Safety Checklist

Protect Your Eyes

• Wear safety glasses if you have them.
• No glasses? Swimming goggles, sunglasses, or other protective eyewear are perfect alternatives.
• If you already wear glasses, keep them on — they’ll help shield your eyes.

Keep Hands Dry

• Dry hands only!
• Wet fingers can make the tablet start fizzing before you’re ready.

Safe Launch Zone

• Choose a big open space — a school hall, playground, or outdoors is best.
• Mark a safety line and make sure everyone stands behind it.
• Always point your rocket away from people, pets, walls, and windows.

Rocket Holding & Aiming Rules

• Hold your rocket firmly and vertically for the first launch — this gives the most dramatic lift-off!
• For subsequent launches, you can experiment with different angles:
  

  Which angles gives maximum range?

  • Around 45° usually gives the longest range.

• Never hold the rocket horizontally! As soon as the lid flies off, the water and tablet will shoot out too, creating a mess and a safety risk.

Special Advice for Indoor Launches

• Always test first: An adult should try one launch to check how high the lid flies.
• If the ceiling is too low for a vertical launch, all launches must be done at an angle — provided the room is long enough for safe distances.
• Make sure rockets are aimed away from people, furniture, lights, and windows.

The Waiting Game

• After adding water and snapping on the lid, hold steady — the fizzing reaction has started!
• You won’t see the gas building up, but that’s part of the suspense…
• Then suddenly: POP! WHOOSH! Your bugstronaut blasts away!

After the Launch

• Collect all lids and bugs after each blast-off — no bugstronauts left behind!
• Wipe up any spills to keep the launch zone safe and dry.
• At the end, wash your hands.

Bugstronaut Craft Zone

Before your mission begins, it’s time to design your rocket!

Decorate your tube to turn it into your very own Bugstronaut Space Shuttle:

Option 1 – Sticker Design
Use stickers to decorate directly on the tube — add stars, planets, or your Bugstronaut’s name!

Option 2 – Paper Wrap Design

1. Draw your rocket design on a piece of paper.
2. Add patterns, colours, and space symbols.
3. Wrap it around your tube and glue or tape it in place.

Science Tip:
Real rockets are decorated too! Engineers and astronauts add symbols, flags, and mission patches to show teamwork and identity.

Challenge:
Can you give your Bugstronaut rocket a mission name and logo?
Write it below or on your paper design!

Sparks of imagination are at the heart of creativity!
– Scientific Sue     

The post BUG BLASTER LAUNCH LAB appeared first on Science2Life.

A little bit of science magic!

Amazing Value for Money!

No waste – no cutting – just lots of magical fun!

Red Cabbage (Brassica Oleracea L.)  Extract Powder

Whether or not you like to eat red cabbage, you are going to love experimenting with it. This dried cabbage powder will allow you to make your own red cabbage pH indicator. This is a very magical kitchen science activity.

Making a red cabbage indicator is a fantastic STEAM activity to introduce children to acid/base chemistry.

• 75 g dried cabbage powder
• pH card

Red cabbage – which is purple! – is a natural acid/base indicator

pH colour chart

• 15 ml /7.5 g  makes 500 ml of red cabbage pH indicator.
  

  Red Cabbage Powder

• Want colours darker? Use less water.
• Want colours lighter? Use more water

Instructions

• Add 15 ml (1 tablespoon)  to 500 ml of warm water. Let the juice cool.
• Your juice is now ready to experiment with!

If you don’t use it all  – freeze it. Scientific Sue pours hers into ice cube trays and then uses one cube at a time as and when she needs them.

What is red cabbage?

Red cabbage is a cruciferous vegetable of firmly packed dark red-purple leaves. It belongs to the brassica group of vegetables along with Brussels sprouts and kale, and has a peppery taste and crunch when eaten raw, and becomes sweeter and softer in texture when cooked.

Red cabbage is grown in Europe and is in season from September to December. As the plants grow, they form tight balls of leaves in the centre surrounded by much larger green-purple leaves. When the red cabbage is ready for harvesting, the whole plant is picked and the outer leaves discarded, leaving just the cabbage head – the part we eat.

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

Red cabbage has a good mix of vitamins and minerals, especially folate, which is essential during pregnancy and also helps the body to produce red blood cells. It also contains vitamin C, which helps protect our cells by acting as an antioxidant, and potassium, which we need for a healthy heart.

A 2019 study indicates growing evidence that anthocyanins play a positive role in cardiovascular health and that those who eat foods with anthocyanins have a lower risk of heart attacks and heart disease-related death.

For Parents & Teachers

“Safe Science at Home: Understanding pH with Red Cabbage”
“Teaching pH Safely: A Colourful Journey Through Household Chemistry”

For those interested in the science behind the magic, I’ve created a 24-minute educational video that dives deeper into the chemical reactions, the household substances used in the red cabbage pH scale, and—most importantly—how to stay safe while experimenting.

Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQYd4H3-ZxY

Perfect for curious parents, teachers, or anyone guiding young scientists through hands-on learning!

Science in a Nutshell

The beautiful purple colour in red cabbage comes from pigments called anthocyanins. These natural pigments are also found in the skin of red apples, grapes, plums—and even in the red leaves of autumn!

When you mix vinegar (ethanoic acid) with baking soda (sodium hydrogen carbonate—a base), a chemical reaction takes place. If the end colour of the solution is purple, this tells us the reaction has reached a neutral point on the pH scale.

Top tip: When a base dissolves in water to form a solution, it’s called an alkali.

Be warned—this reaction produces lots of bubbles of carbon dioxide gas! The fizz can easily overflow your beakers, so be sure to carry out this experiment on a tray or over a bucket to avoid mess.

pH and Acidity

• The pH scale runs from 0 to 14, where:

  • 0 = most acidic

  • 7 = neutral

  • 14 = most alkaline (or basic)

• A neutral solution (like pure water) has a pH of 7.

• Acids have an excess of hydrogen ions (H⁺).

• Alkalis have fewer H⁺ ions than neutral water and a pH greater than 7.

Examples of acids:

• Citric acid crystals

• Liquid vinegar

Acids react with bases (solids) and alkalis (liquids) to produce:
→ a salt, water, and carbon dioxide gas.

Fun Fact!

Citric acid, baking soda, and soap are the key ingredients in many bath bombs! That fizzy fun is all thanks to chemistry.

Safety First!

Because this experiment can get messy and splashy, younger scientists should always wear safety goggles or swimming goggles to protect their eyes.

The post RED CABBAGE MAGIC 75 g appeared first on Science2Life.

Whether or not you like to eat red cabbage, you are going to love experimenting with it. This dried cabbage powder will allow you to make your own red cabbage pH indicator. This is a very magical kitchen science activity.

Making a red cabbage indicator is a fantastic STEAM activity to introduce children to acid/base chemistry.

• 10 g dried cabbage powder
• pH colour card

Red cabbage – which is purple! – is a natural acid/base indicator

• Contents makes1 L of red cabbage pH indicator.
• Want colours darker? Use less water.
• Want colours lighter? Use more water

Instructions

• Add half of the  sachet contents  to 500 ml of warm water. Let the juice cool.
• Your juice is now ready to experiment with!
• If you want the colours to be darker add more powder; add more water if you want the colours to be lighter.

If you don’t use it all  – freeze it. Scientific Sue pours hers into ice cube trays and then uses one cube at a time as and when she needs them.

What is red cabbage?

Red cabbage is a cruciferous vegetable of firmly packed dark red-purple leaves. It belongs to the brassica group of vegetables along with Brussels sprouts and kale, and has a peppery taste and crunch when eaten raw, and becomes sweeter and softer in texture when cooked.

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

Red cabbage is grown in Europe and is in season from September to December. As the plants grow, they form tight balls of leaves in the centre surrounded by much larger green-purple leaves. When the red cabbage is ready for harvesting, the whole plant is picked and the outer leaves discarded, leaving just the cabbage head – the part we eat.

Red cabbage has a good mix of vitamins and minerals, especially folate, which is essential during pregnancy and also helps the body to produce red blood cells. It also contains vitamin C, which helps protect our cells by acting as an antioxidant, and potassium, which we need for a healthy heart.

A 2019 study indicates growing evidence that anthocyanins play a positive role in cardiovascular health and that those who eat foods with anthocyanins have a lower risk of heart attacks and heart disease-related death.

For Parents & Teachers

“Safe Science at Home: Understanding pH with Red Cabbage”
“Teaching pH Safely: A Colourful Journey Through Household Chemistry”

For those interested in the science behind the magic, I’ve created a 24-minute educational video that dives deeper into the chemical reactions, the household substances used in the red cabbage pH scale, and—most importantly—how to stay safe while experimenting.

Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQYd4H3-ZxY

Perfect for curious parents, teachers, or anyone guiding young scientists through hands-on learning!

Science in a Nutshell

The purple colour in the red cabbage comes from a class of pigments called anthocyanins; this pigment is also found in the skin of red apples, grapes, plums and is the pigment in leaves which turn red in the autumn.

When the vinegar (ethanoic acid) is mixed with the baking soda (sodium hydrogen carbonate – a BASE) a chemical reaction takes place and the end solution will be a purple colour – indicating neutralisation has taken place.

Note if the baking soda it dissolved in water it then becomes an ALKALI.

Beware LOTS of bubbles of carbon dioxide are formed; these bubbles are as a result of the reaction – the bubbles will more than likely cascade over the top of the beakers – carry this experiment out on a tray or over a bucket!

Acidity is measured on a pH scale which runs from 0 (most acidic) to 14 (most basic or alkaline).

A substance which is neither acidic nor basic is called ‘neutral’ and has a pH of 7.

An acid solution contains an excess of hydrogen ions (H+) i.e. pH is a measure of how acidic a solution is or how many H+ ions are present.

Alkaline solutions have a pH greater than 7 meaning they have less free H+ ions than that of neutral water.

Citric acid crystals and liquid vinegar are both called acids.

Acids react with a base (solid) and an alkali (liquid) to produce a salt, water and carbon dioxide gas.

Safety: Due to the high likely hood of splashes being made younger scientists should wear safety or swimming googles.

Citric acid, baking soda and soap are the key ingredients found in BATH BOMBS!

The post RED CABBAGE MAGIC 10g appeared first on Science2Life.