The Science Project

It's that time of year again, time for the Science Extraveganza as Jason Lee calls it. Every year we have a hard time deciding what to do for a project and then we always seem to wait until the last minute. I admit, that's partially my fault. This year Cierra was the only one who HAD to do a science project. We searched online for some ideas and she decided that she wanted to test the ph level in soda pop. Easy enough right, get some ph strips from a pool store and dip them in, DONE. Well, the other day I hopped in the car after getting kids off to school and was going to head to the pool supply store only to find out that the one I knew of was no longer there. I searched around a little and checked a few stores for some testing kits with no luck. Then I went to Walmart because I had to get something else. While I was there I remembered that they usually have some pool supplies so I went and checked. Sure enough, there they were, chemical testing strips. YES!!!
Now jump to today. By the way, her project is due on Monday!! Shame on us! So we get the strips and get the pop she wants to test and dip a strip. Come to find out the ph level of pop is on the lower end of the scale, which means it's more acidic, which doesn't show up on the strips we had. Now we need strips that show the whole range on the ph scale. I looked up pool stores in the phone book and headed out. They didn't have anything showing the entire scale either! Did I mention that I don't like science projects. After going a couple of places that were suggested we headed home. On the way home from Kennewick I was thinking that I should just check Fun 2 Learn. It's a teacher supply store, very fun, love to go there. After we got home I fed Carter and called Fun 2 Learn and wouldn't you know it, they had ph strips that show the entire ph scale. I should have known to just go there first, dang it!!
In case you are wondering, Coke, Pepsi and Dr.Pepper are the most acidic, followed by Sprite. The funny thing we found was that A&W Root Beer was practically a neutral on the scale...that was kind of odd. We also tested other things just for fun like, Kool-Aid, milk, tap water and Barq's Root Beer. We also tested vinegar to get an idea of where that fell on the scale to compare it to the soda pop. It was about the same as the cola's.
Now we just have to put the display board together. Maybe next year we won't procrastinate like we did this year. Ha ha ha, yea right!