Candy Cane Science

What happens to a candy cane when put in a cup of water? 

First we made some predictions.  Most of the kids predicted that the stripes would change color.

Then we made an observational drawing in our journals of what the candy canes looked like when we started.

Then we put them in water, and set them aside while we went to centers.


About 15 minutes later one student went to check on them and notcied that they were changing.  We gathered together to make another observational drawing.

They were pink!  (I was even wrong - I thought they would turn white, they never did they just turned pink.)

We noticed the candy canes were pink, smaller, thinner, and the water was turning yellow or brown.

About another 20 minutes later we found out the candy canes had disappeared, and the water was completely brown.  I asked the kids why the water had turned brown.  I we looked, we smelled, we felt it, I asked if we should taste it.  One child dared.... it tasted like candy cane!  We learned the word "dissolve".  Each child eagerly drank their "candy cane water".