Mummified Fish Finale

We have finished with the Mummified Fish.  What an interesting and SMELLY experiment.  We had to change the baking soda twice.  The first time we changed the baking soda the fish were still soft but the baking soda was quite clumpy.  It was interesting to see what had changed. The eyeballs had sunken into the head.  The next time we changed the soda the fish were a lot stiffer but the soda was not as clumpy.

On Friday we took them out of the bags for the last time.  The baking soda was still free flowing - quite different to the first change.  The fish sounded solid when we tapped them.  The were stiff.  One fish had curled into a u shape.

We know that the Baking Soda had sucked all the moisture out of the fish and because there was no moisture in the fish they didn't rot.  It was an interesting smell - The fish didn't smell rotten but a concentrated fish smell.

Hopefully the classroom will smell a lot better now.  The plastic bags did not stop the smell escaping.

Thanks for sharing our fun experiment Room O.