Isn’t it nice when you and your kids can perform a science experiment without a hitch? It’s GREAT! Over the years, I have found my go-to labs. These are labs that are easy to assemble and work every time. This Candy Cane lab is one such lab. There are different versions of this lab. So, if you want to increase its difficulty, you can add in more liquids or record more precise data including temperature and time of dissolving for each fluid. Enjoy some delicious science exploration this season with the Dissolving Candy Cane Lab!
*We love to accompany this lab with our Legend of the Candy Cane unit study which is only one aspect of our large collection of Christmas Printables & Activities. Also, be sure to check out our other Science curriculum including labs & experiments.
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For us, this lab was one that we talked our way through. My kids knew that we were planning on putting a candy cane in cold water and another in hot water. Before doing anything, we first discussed the ingredients of the candy cane and how the ingredient listed first will always make-up the greatest percentage in the food. Sugar is the first ingredient in a candy cane and surely the most prevalent in its make-up.
The posing question for this lab is, “Will a candy cane dissolve faster in hot or cold water?” As for the controlled variable, it is the candy cane. Next is the manipulated variable, which is the temperature of the water. Lastly, the responding variable is the rate at which the candy cane dissolves in each glass of water.
Before adding our candy canes into the jars, we had to prepare them first. One of the jars we put in the microwave for 3 minutes. In the second jar, we added ice to make it cold. This would be the appropriate time to take each jars temperature. We kept it simple and referred to each jar as hot or cold water.
My older kids had prior experience with dissolving of sugar, so their predictions about the outcome were fairly accurate. However, the experiment proved some other observations interesting, provoking our curiosity. As they suspected, the candy cane in the warm water dissolved much quicker than the one with ice in it. The candy cane in the warm water began to bend and collapse.
Throughout this transformation, we talked about what they were observing and why. Key words like mixture, solution, solute, solvent, and saturation were discussed. A solution is a type of mixture that can not be separated easily. The sugar in the solution is the solute (what is being dissolved) while the water is called the solvent (liquid it is being dissolved into). We talked about how the density of the water was changing as more mass was being dissolved into the volume; thus, making the solution more dense.
While the candy cane in the warm water was almost completely dissolved, the one in the cold water was intact and hardly touched in comparison.
By the time the candy canes were completely dissolved, there were layers left behind. Due to the water’s difference in temperature, the saturation of sugar dispersed in layers. Look at the jar on the right. The water at the top remained relatively clear. This is because ice continued to melt near the surface causing the water molecules in that region to slip past each other very slowly with little energy. Because the water layered, it is assumed that there are two layers with of varying densities.
Some of you will want to use a lab sheet. We use two general science lab sheets that work for most experiments we do at home. Choose the one that works the best for you. These lab sheets break down the steps to the scientific method including: posing question, hypothesis, procedure, observations/results, and conclusion. One of the lab sheets also includes the responding variable, manipulated variable, and controlled variable.
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