Kids STEM: Colorful Science

Colorful Experiment #1

Supplies:

  • Milk
  • Plate
  • Liquid Food coloring
  • Dish Soap
  • Q-tips

Directions:

  1. Pour the milk into a plate until you cover the bottom surface.
  2. Add drops of food coloring in middle of the milk in the plate.
  3. Coat the Q-tip in the dish soap and dip it in the milk. Watch what happens!

The science behind this reaction has to do with the way the soap molecules and the fat from the milk are interacting. Fat is hydrophobic, a type of molecule that repels water. By adding the soap, we are breaking up the hydrophobic fat particles and holding it inside the soap.

Colorful Experiment #2

Supplies:

  • Hard coated candy
  • Plate
  • Warm water

Directions:

  1. Put the candy pieces in the plate. You can place them around the edge, or any other design you can think of!
  2. Add some warm water to the plate, making sure that there is enough to cover the bottom of the plate. Watch what happens!

The science behind this interaction has to do with the warm water dissolving the color coating on the candies.
Each of the candies has a slight difference in the sugar content, which means they have different densities; they all take up a different amount of space. The reaction we are seeing here is called stratification, where water splits due to differences in the density of the materials.Try cold water and even different kinds of candy. What happens?

Watch these projects at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9geJ7KdXqK0&list=PLMEg2Dd0dSFctLfDQxsL5…