Does it Dissolve in Water?

This Experiment was wonderful for walking the kids through the Scientific Process.  It was fun making new predictions and it kept their little hands very busy.

I found this particular experiment at the link below and then supplemented some fun worksheets for the kids to use as we completed the experiment.  I used the process from this site and then tweaked it a bit to match my own teaching style.

http://handsonaswegrow.com/kids-what-dissolves-in-water-experiment/#_pg_pin=579277

I started this experiment by gathering all of the kitchen items that we would be using and placing them into little clear cups.  I then labeled the cups (color coding each one so that I could refer to the colors during the experiment). I also filled six glass cups with water so that we could clearly see if the kitchen item was dissolving. We would be looking to see if brown sugar, white sugar, flour, salt, oatmeal and colored sprinkles would dissolve in water.

I prepared two separate worksheets for this experiment. One is labeled Predictions and the other Observations.  The worksheets are provided below and have the kids circling a happy face if the item dissolves and circling the sad face if the item does not. 

Prediction Worksheet
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NdHplD99h10JY0LXYzJ5NEFKnJvKEeJh4ZxORsmUpOs/edit

Observation Worksheet

https://docs.google.com/document/d/11B_w9Dcom_PMrPa4AwtgfD5QvcP_K7gtjTYdN11TeAM/edit

Making Predictions

After we completed our predictions worksheet we began pouring the different substances into the water through a plastic funnel and stirring for 30 seconds. The kids had a blast taking turns stirring the cup and observing.

While they were stirring we talked about what it means for a substance to dissolve in water. They were encouraged to use this term when we were deciding if it dissolved or not.

Teaching Tip: As you are observing the experiment  and making new discoveries it is a great idea to refer back to their predictions.  Ask them to recall what they predicted and see if they were right!  

 

When we finished all of the mixing we brought all of our cups back to the table so we could record our observations.

Circling Our Observations

The sugar was clearly dissolved, while the flour appeared foggy with some settling to the bottom, and the sprinkles turned the water red without dissolving at all! 

Both Oliver (4) and Ellie (3) were able to tell me whether or not the food items dissolved in the water and how they could tell.  I noticed them using the term "dissolve" several times after we completed the experiment as we were hanging out in the kitchen.  They were also trying to think about some other things that we try when doing this experiment again.

Things Learned:

1. How to work together
2. How to make and record predictions
3. How to make and record observations
4. The term "dissolve"