Rock Candy
Materials Needed:
Medium sauce pan
Measuring Cups
Four craft sticks
Wooden Spoon
Four small glasses
Sugar
Food coloring
Magnifying glass or a Microscope
Journal if you want to keep experiment notes
Parental supervision is necessary since this project requires the use of the stove.
Combine 4 1/2 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar in the sauce pan..
Heat the sugar water until it comes to a boil. Stir the sugar water the entire time. Remind the kids (if they are very young, that the pan will be very hot!).
Continue to boil the mixture for two minutes.
Pour the mixture into the glasses, dividing the mixture evenly between the four glasses. MAKE SURE THE GLASSES ARE WARM BEFORE YOU POUR THE MIXTURE INTO THE GLASSES OR THEY MAY SHATTER! To heat the glasses pour some warm water into the glasses while the sugar water is boiling. Warm water from the tap will work just fine.
Add food coloring to each of the glasses. You might want to make each glass of sugar water a different color.
Place a craft stick in each of the glasses.
Place the glasses in a well lit and warm area for about a week.
Every day examine the glasses. Make notes in your journal. Draw pictures of the glasses and what is happening inside of them. Be patient.
After a week or so, remove the craft stick and examine it. Use a magnifying glass to get a close look. Chip off some of the crystals and place them under a microscope for an even closer look.
Write in your journal and draw pictures in your journal. Can you guess why the crystals formed? Did you do the experiments from a few weeks ago on stalactites?
Now enjoy eating your science experiment!
Why did the crystals form?
Sugar is a solid. Only the water in the sugar water will evaporate. The sugar is left behind.
Why did the sugar form crystals?
When the sugar was dissolved in the water a supersaturated solution was formed. As the mixture cooled and began to evaporate the sugar crystals reformed along the craft sticks.
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