Dancing Popcorn STEM Experiment

Science creates such wonder in my daughter’s eyes that I can’t help but love doing experiments with her. We like to do evergreen experiments but it is extra fun when the theme of the science is seasonal. This experiment is great for the wonderful season of Fall.

Make Corn Dance Science Experiment

This experiment is incredibly easy but is so cool to watch! All it really takes is a little patience and a sense of wonder and amazement.

Supplies Needed

• Dried Corn Kernels
• Baking Soda
• White Vinegar
• See Through Glass Jar

**We bought all of our supplies at the dollar store.

How To

We started by pouring about 1 cup of dried corn kernels into the jar. These are the kernels that can be popped into popcorn.

Next we filled the jar about ⅔ way full of white vinegar. We didn’t measure but it was probably 2 cups of vinegar.

The next part can get a little messy, I would suggest doing it over the sink or on a counter you won’t be upset getting wet.

Start pouring in baking soda. We added approximately ¼ cup of baking soda and watched it fizz all the way out of the jar. You could see some of the corn kernels make their way all the way to the top of the jar and hang out with the fizzy bubbles.

When a majority of the bubbles had died down, the corn started going up and down as if they were on an elevator.

It kept happening for about 15 minutes. The corn slowed down but my daughter wasn’t done watching so she used a straw to stir the mixture. It helped reactivate the bubbles slightly and the corn danced again.
When the straw trick didn’t work anymore we added a little more baking soda and that helped the dance party continue as well.

The dance party was so much fun to witness. It’s amazing how the heavy corn can attach itself to the light bubbles and have movement. It still baffles me and it was so fun to watch!

When we were done it all went into the garbage. You could probably craft with the corn but I wouldn’t suggest popping it for food!