The children in Miss Daly’s room loved bringing gummy worms to “life” with this simple chemical reaction. Using baking soda and vinegar.

In this experiment, gummy worms float and move as the vinegar (acetic acid) in the cup reacts with the baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) they’ve been soaked in. The chemical reaction forms carbon dioxide gas bubbles which float to the surface, pulling the worms with them and making them wriggle until the chemical reaction stops.