If the Easter Bunny brings your kids Peeps, but the kids discover they don’t like them (like my kids did), then try this easy experiment instead of throwing them away!
We did two experiments in one: “Sink or float?” and “Will it dissolve?” and I share the simple instructions in this post. I made a short video on Instagram that summarizes the experiment, and you can watch that video below.
Materials:
- 4 Peeps
- 4 small cups
- Ice water
- Room temperature water
- Hot water
- Vinegar
Procedure:
- Fill each small cup 2/3 full with the ice water, room temperature water, hot water, and vinegar, repectively.
- Place a Peeps in front of each cup.
- Ask your kids to predict if the Peeps will sink or float in each cup?
- Ask your kids which liquid they think would dissolve the Peeps the quickest?
- Have your kids drop the Peeps into each cup of liquid. Immediately we saw that it floats in all 4 liquids.
- Wait for the Peeps to dissolve. After about a minute we flipped over the Peeps and saw the sugar coating was completely dissolved in the hot water. It had just started to dissolve in the room temperature and ice water. It did not really start to dissolve in vinegar.
*After several hours our Peeps were still not completely dissolved in any of the liquids we tested. The Peeps in hot water was dissolved the most, but still in its recognizable shape. The Peeps in vinegar was least dissolved.
STEAM CONCEPTS LEARNED:
- Kids are learning about buoyancy when we ask if it will sink or float. They may not understand the concept yet, but they will slowly understand that less dense marshmallow will easily float compared to more dense objects like rocks.
- Sugar dissolves in water because the polar sugar molecules are attracted to polar water molecules. It dissolves faster in hot water vs. ice water because the molecules are moving faster. The acid in vinegar does not attract and dissolve sugar.
Ways to expand:
- You can try this experiment with a larger variety of liquids (try oil, juice, soda, sparking water, etc…) to see if any of them will dissolve the Peeps faster than the hot water.
Do you or your kids like Peeps? Are you going to try this activity with your kids when they discover they don’t like them?
