Dissolving Candy Corn - Halloween Experiment (With Free Printables)
Now, while Halloween has a lot to do with frightening creatures, sludge, slime and all things gory - don't forget the candy (the heaps and heaps of candy)! Instead of letting the sugary treats rot away teeth and cause kids to bounce from walls like energizer bunnies, why not put it to some good educational use? Yup, you CAN actually learn something from candy!
To quickly bring you up to speed, during the month of October (yes, the month of horrors), I will be bringing a series of Halloween themed science experiments and activities to the @steemiteducation channel. Before I introduce today's addition, please see some of my recent submissions:
- Mad Scientist's Potion - Edible Halloween Treat (Learn About Dry Ice)
- Ghost Rocket Science Experiment - Awesome Halloween Activity
- Halloween Moon Sand - Sensory Play Activity For Pre Schoolers
- Learn About Bacteria With This Edible Halloween Treat
- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! Plant pumpkins in a pumpkin!
- "Blood' Liquid Density - Halloween Science Experiment
- "Brain Surgery" - Halloween Experiment (Learn About Polymer Chains)
Today's addition:
Dissolving Candy Corn - Halloween Experiment (With Free Printables)
Experiments always have more success when they are accompanied by some theory, or a bit of useful information. One angle where this experiment can come in useful is when learning about positive and negative charges, and the effect they have on objects in certain states.
What you will need:
- 3 glasses or beakers (more if you would like to try other liquids too)
- Half a cup of Rubbing Alcohol
- Half a cup of oil (cooking oil or baby oil)
- Half a cup of water
- Candy Corn (or any candy)
- A timer
Instructions:
1. Use the above link to print the following worksheet that you can hand out to your students:
2. Give your students an opportunity to fill in their names on their sheets, and their guess at which liquid will dissolve the candy faster.
3. Label your containers/beakers accordingly.
4. Add half a cup of each liquid to a beaker.
5. Place 3 Candy Corns into each beaker.
6. Set your timer, wait and observe.
7. Allow the students to complete the sheet with their observations.
Why does the color come off differently in each of the liquids?
The candies are made up of sugar and coloring, both of which are made up of positive and negatively charged molecules.
The water molecule has positive and negative charges so it can attract and dissolve the color and sugar pretty well. The alcohol molecules don’t have as many positive and negative areas as the water. The alcohol molecules can’t attract the coloring and sugar molecules as well as the water so the candy coating doesn’t dissolve well in alcohol. The oil molecules have no positive and negative areas. They don’t attract the coloring or sugar molecules so the candy coating doesn’t dissolve at all in oil. - https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/adventures-in-chemistry/experiments/dissolving-m-ms.html
You see, science doesn't have to be dreary, oh no, it can be so much "sweeter" than you ever imagined! I don't know about you, but I have always found that kids learn best through observation, and through fun and play. I hope you enjoyed this activity, please keep a look out for more Halloween themed experiments and activities!
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Oh man! One must eat candy corn, not dissolve it in liquids!! :) I wish I had some candy corn here in Panama. I saw a bag of it once at a ridiculous price and I just couldn't do it. There are other candies I could probably do an experiment like this with. My kids would love it. Need to remember to try. Thanks!