1-21-14
The Mystery "M"
What is the science behind this experiment?
When an m&m is placed in a warm water surrounding, the dye is going to leak off due to the warm temperature. We can relate this to students by asking what happens to m&ms when we hold them in our hands for too long. I connect this experiment to the "Beyond the Fizz" reading because we can lead students to begin the process of the scientific method. Asking questions, making hypotheses, and performing experiments more than once are just a few of the multiple steps that scientists perform every day. After a couple more minutes, we begin to notice the "m" logo detaching itself from the chocolate. This is because the oil-based coating is hydrophobic, or "water-hating". It rises upwards to the top of the water because the oil is less dense than H20 (.01). This experiment can lead us to have many different discussions about terms like hydrophobic, hydrophilic, density, and oil-based coatings. I truly enjoyed this experiment because it's such a simple and cheap experiment. This is the perfect beginning experiment for a new topic or unit of study including terms like density and buoyancy.
When an m&m is placed in a warm water surrounding, the dye is going to leak off due to the warm temperature. We can relate this to students by asking what happens to m&ms when we hold them in our hands for too long. I connect this experiment to the "Beyond the Fizz" reading because we can lead students to begin the process of the scientific method. Asking questions, making hypotheses, and performing experiments more than once are just a few of the multiple steps that scientists perform every day. After a couple more minutes, we begin to notice the "m" logo detaching itself from the chocolate. This is because the oil-based coating is hydrophobic, or "water-hating". It rises upwards to the top of the water because the oil is less dense than H20 (.01). This experiment can lead us to have many different discussions about terms like hydrophobic, hydrophilic, density, and oil-based coatings. I truly enjoyed this experiment because it's such a simple and cheap experiment. This is the perfect beginning experiment for a new topic or unit of study including terms like density and buoyancy.