Why do some things explode?

The bag puffs up, but nothing is making it happen. We know this because we can’t see anything puffing the bag up. If you can’t see something, it means nothing is there.

• True
• False

The bag puffs up, and there is something making it happen. You can’t see what is inside of the bag, but you can feel that the bag is being puffed up.

• True
• False

The bag is being puffed up like a balloon by gas. The gas is made up of lots of particles. The particles fly around and push against the sides of the bag.

• True
• False

The particles of gas in the bag are too small to see. But even though they are tiny, there are so many particles that they puff the bag up like a balloon.

• True
• False

2. In the bag, the vinegar is a liquid made of particles, and the baking soda is a powder made of particles. When the vinegar and baking soda mix, they form a new substance. That new substance is still made of particles, but it is a gas. The particles of this new gas are too small for us to see, but what might they look like if we could see them? Choose which model below shows what the particles of gas might look like inside of the bag.

• 
• 

3. Use the drawing to explain how extremely tiny particles can make a bag puff up like a balloon.

Evaluate responses using AI:

OFF

From the drawings below, choose which model would help Julian understand how a breath can fit through the tiny opening while still puffing the balloon up.

• 
• 

Each individual particle of gas that makes up a person’s breath is very tiny, so it can easily fit into a balloon.

• True
• False

One single breath is made up of one single particle of gas. Those single particles are the same size as a balloon, and that’s why balloons inflate.

• True
• False

We can’t see the particles of a gas because they are so tiny. But we can see balloons inflate because they are filled with a huge number of tiny particles.

• True
• False