From our research, we new that baking soda needs an acid to react with to create carbon dioxide which allows the bread to rise. Baking powder is primarily baking soda with cream of tartar (a powdered acid) so it just needs a liquid to be present to react. So our three breads had called for different amounts and kinds of leaveners. Jack and BJ made their own breads (all by themselves!) and the Tots did a recipe together.
Each bread was a success but the votes were split between Mama Paul's (my grandmother) recipe and Fine Cooking's recipe. Mama Paul's called for just baking soda and Fine called for baking powder and soda with buttermilk as the acidic ingredient. Mama Paul's did not rise very well which is what we predicted. It was also the darkest in color. BJ was afraid he burned it but it turns out that the baking soda darkened the bread since it didn't have an acid to neutralize. Seriously, amazing chemistry in cooking!