Candy Hearts Science Lab

Happy Valentine's week, friends!  It's Elisabeth from Literacy and Lattes here to share a some of the Valentine's fun that will be happening in my classroom this week.  You're probably already planning on sorting candy hearts, right?  Keep the fun going with these little science labs. 

You'll need candy hearts, 4 cups, vinegar, salt, baking soda, water and a spoon for mixing. 

Fill one cup with water and a tablespoon-ish of salt.  One with water and about a tablespoon of vinegar and another with water and tablespoon of baking soda.  The fourth cup is filled with only water. 

Add a candy heart to each of the cups.  We decided to make sure we used the same color in each for the "most accurate" results. Little scientists are very serious about making sure their research is carried out appropriately!  ;)  Don't forget to write your hypothesis and predict what will happen to each of the hearts. 

Let your hearts soak for about 15 - 20 minutes and observe what happens. 

Right away you can see some good bubble action as the air makes it's way out of the candy. 

While we wait, we wanted to answer the age old question: Do the different colors of candy hearts actually taste different?



We did a very scientific blind taste test.  Cover your eyes and hold out your hand so your partner can give you a candy heart.  Eat it and guess the color.  Then you partner confirms the actual color.  You can find this taste test freebie here. 

Revisit your hearts and document your results. 

I actually got different results using two different brands of candy hearts, which was surprising. 

With Necco Sweathearts pictured here, all four hearts basically dissolved and turned the water blue.  In the salt water cup, you could see little pieces of the red words floating at the top of the water, along with the little cluster of dissolved sugar.  

salt water                                                 vinegar water

water                                                   baking soda water

After we looked at and compared the four cups, we scooped out the hearts and compared them to the control (un-soaked heart).

Using a different brand of candy hearts (I have no idea which kind since I didn't save the bag) at school, we got some different results.  

 

Salt water dissolved some, the heart in vinegar water didn't even change the color of the water...

and baking soda water was floating!!  I'd love to tell you I understand the difference between the two kinds of hearts, but I have no idea!

You can grab my lab booklet here. 

I hope you have a "wicked cool" Valentine's Day with your kiddos!