This post contains affiliate links. I was compensated for my work in writing this post.
First I am going to explain what covalent bonds are, and then we will be breaking covalent bonds in a fun experiment. We are using Christian Kids Explore Chemistry by Bright Ideas Press to learn about ionic and covalent bonds. I explain the difference between these two bonds in the video at the bottom of this blog post. I use candy to explain the bonds.
You can make the candy Oxygen atoms by attaching 6 green gumdrops and 6 red gumdrops to represent the protons and neutrons in each atom. You will need 6 yellow electron gumdrops as well. Attach them to the pipe-cleaner circles, which are made by twisting two pipe cleaners together.
Now make sure that each Oxygen atom is sharing two of its electrons with the Oxygen next to it. You will see a total of two covalent bonds (4 electrons are being shared altogether, because each atom is sharing 2 electrons). Covalent means sharing. The atoms are sharing electrons.
So how do we break this sharing? How to we break a covalent bond?
We can do this easily by plopping two Alka Seltzer tablets into a glass of water. The water causes the covalent bonds to be broken apart, and the result is that carbon dioxide is produced in the form of bubbles.
Take a look at how we performed this experiment involving breaking covalent bonds:
Tags: Bright Ideas Press, chemistry, Christian Kids Explore Chemistry, hands-on science, homeschooing, science
Interesting and really neat way to show kids about this topic. I like the candy models.
Learning anything with candy is a sure hit with the kids!
I am in awe of all the fun things you do with your kids! 🙂
Thank you! You should tell that to my kids. They think having fun while learning is ordinary.
Oh my goodness, I’m homeschooling grade 2 right now and the thought that one day I would have to teach about covalent bonds has me a little freaked. This looks super cool though.
Pinning for future reference!
Wishing you a lovely day.
xoxo
This is the most fun I’ve ever had with covalent bonds. LOL
Very cool! My kids would love this 🙂
Kids like visible reactions.
This was so fun to watch and such a fantastic lesson and demonstration! “fizzy pill’s” love it! 　
Kids love seeing stuff fizz.
This was so much fun to watch! Saving these ideas to share with my boys. They like fizzing and bubbling things!
I think most boys like fizzing and bubbling!