Here, the heart glitter represents carbon and the little glitter sparkles represent oxygen. They bond together and create carbon dioxide. In a carbon star this creates its red glow.

Whatcha need: sparkly chunky glitter glue, ribbon, craft sticks, pipe cleaners, and a plastic lid.

Take the pipe cleaner and form it into a star then tie the ribbon onto the top of the star. Place your star on a plastic lid.

Squeeze a big glob of glitter glue into the center of the star.

Spread the glue into the star with the craft stick. Be sure to get the glue into all the nooks and crannies.

Set the star in a sunny spot to dry, or if you’re impatient, like myself, take a hair dryer to it. Add more glue if needed.

Hang your star in a sunny window for an added sparkle to any room!

Visit Carbon Stars for a fizzy fun experiment and visit sulphur, gold, carbon and riddles for more PTOE fun!

Making Carbon Dioxide Stars

Here is a fizzy, fun experiment involving carbon dioxide. Imagine it’s a Carbon Star…….

Whatcha need: cooking oil, water, glass jar, food coloing, and effervescent tablets

Fill your jar half way with oil.

Add an almost equal amount of water, but you don’t want to fill the jar to the top or a huge mess will occur. Watch the water settle to the bottom of the jar.

Add 4-6 drops of food coloring. Watch the color float to the bottom of the oil, then break through the oil and sink to the bottom of the jar through the water.

Now for the coolest part, the part that puts the fizz (carbon dioxide) into the fun, drop an effervescent tablet into the jar and watch the carbon dioxide do some magical things……….

Originally, I wanted to show you photos of the red jar to represent the Carbon Star, but the blue photos turned out so cool! Oh, and by the way, this is also a great color mixing experiment! Check out more fun PTOE activites by having a look at the sidebar.