It’s never too early to build up your Basic Chemistry at KSL. On this day of Gadget Camp, we switched from design gadgets to chemistry gadgets as we investigated how to detect what “other” chemicals may be in our liquids. We used a cabbage juice indicator, which has a water soluble chemical “anthocyanin” that changes color in the presence of acids (vinegar) and bases (baking soda, dish soap). Kids performed pH testing on this day and explored how they can use this feature of cabbage juice indicator to test various liquids. We want to empower kids to use basic science and their own curiosity to solve problems, so if you want to tell if there is vinegar in your apple cider, then use your new ‘Jedi Spy Chemical Detector” to quickly see if there is an Acid. At home, your child may do some additional testing with cabbage juice indicator, and also may have a similar chemical on “GoldenRod Paper” that turns red when in the presence of a strong Base such as baking soda, and erases the color when you add an acid like vinegar. This allows the goldenrod paper to be used to write secret messages.