Be sure to check out our Science Curriculum page! There you will find labs, unit studies, and products that will help make teaching easy!
As a Christian Book and Amazon affiliate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases. Thank you for your support. As always, we only recommend items that we truly feel will benefit your homeschooling experience. We appreciate it.
Osmosis is the movement of water molecules across a semi-permeable membrane from an area of lower solute concentration to an area of higher solute concentration. The activities you find below will help you to teach this concept.
Our “What is Osmosis?” Free Doodle Sheet is a perfect introductory information sheet. I used this at the beginning of class along with an additional anticipatory set… the water beads! This was a perfect combination to introduce the topic of osmosis.
I love to introduce osmosis with water beads. It’s fun to see the kids’ reactions when you let them feel and touch the water beads before and then after their water immersion. To ensure that your water beads undergo their full transformation, soak the water beads in water overnight. When I am teaching outside of my home, I like to transport my water beads in glass jars full of water. This way I can take on and off the lid when necessary.
When placed in water, the water beads absorb water due to osmosis, causing them to swell. Conversely, if placed in a highly concentrated solution (like saltwater), water will move out of the beads via osmosis, causing them to shrink. If class allows, I like to add salt to the jar of water beads and then let them sit overnight. When your students come back to class, the water beads will have shrunk. If you’re doing this with your kids at home, it will work great. For those of you who teach homeschool co-ops, you might need to send a bag of water beads home for your students to try them there.
For years, I have used vinegar to remove the white shell from raw chicken eggs. I did this because it was fun. Since the egg absorbs fluid, it becomes squishy, swollen, and even bounces a little. I use this lab in my farm-to-table class, too, because you can pierce the raw egg after the shell has been dissolved to show the outer membrane of the egg. When an egg is soaked in vinegar, the vinegar’s acetic acid reacts with the eggshell (calcium carbonate), dissolving it and producing carbon dioxide bubbles. This exposes the egg’s semi-permeable membrane. Osmosis, the movement of water across a membrane from an area of higher concentration to lower concentration, then causes water from the vinegar to move into the egg, making it swell.
Once you have dissolved the eggshell off of a handful of eggs, try soaking them in different liquids to see what happens. Note: It takes anywhere from 48-72 hours to dissolve an eggshell in vinegar. Soak one egg in water, another in salt water, and the third in corn syrup. Do this for at least 24 hours. You will observe more swelling and shrinking of eggs. This lab extension will lead to a lively discussion about osmosis and other forms of homeostasis.
After exploring the osmosis of eggs, my students ventured into a lab using gummy bears. I found that the Haribo gummy bears worked the best for this lab. The gummy bear osmosis lab demonstrates the movement of water across a semi-permeable membrane through osmosis. Gummy bears, when placed in water, will swell due to water moving into the bear, and when placed in a solution with a higher concentration of solute (like salt water), they may shrink as water moves out. This is because the gummy bear’s surface acts like a semi-permeable membrane, allowing water to pass through while restricting the movement of larger molecules like sugar or salt. You should allow for the gummy bears to soak in the liquids for at least 12-24 hours.
Use our FREE Gummy Bear Lab Sheet to give your students a place to compare and contrast the gummy bears. I’ve had kids use this sheet to record measurements like length and mass of each gummy bear. For younger kids, I’ve had them place the gummy bears in the corresponding box to visually compare them. This lab is one of our favorite in our Osmosis for Kids post.
Osmosis for kids wouldn’t be complete without the addition of an educational video. Videos are always a great addition to any study. Some students learn best using their hands, some with listening, and others by watching. The more ways we can present new information to our students, the more capable they are of retaining and understanding it.
This website uses cookies.