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Acid Candy Test

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Wow...we had so much fun with this today! Thanks again to my friend Sherrie Roland for sharing this with me in a time of need!!!

First I read from the Seeds of Science book and YouTube video clips that I posted on the blog yesterday. Then we explored our candy!
 I bought a huge pack of Wonka candy.... with Nerds, BottleCaps, Sweet Tarts and Laffy Taffy in it.  We were able to see a reaction with all of the candy types except for the banana flavored Laffy Taffy.  I wonder if it wasn't sour enough?


The reason for the reaction?  Sour candy is made with citric acid from fruits like lime/lemons.  When you mix the candy diluted in water with baking soda, it emits a gas.  It only emits the gas if it encounters an acid.

We made a lot of observations - we noticed that a lot of the food coloring from the candy was diluted in the water.  We noticed that the baking soda sunk and made clumps on the candy.  We noticed many bubbles. Nerds made the most bubbles. 

 Here is how I set up the materia…
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"Science Conservatively Defined"

Reflecting on how we came to name ourselves "AmericanScience" as HSS approaches, I noticed an interesting thing under our "About the FHSA" tab. The submission criteria for the Forum's Publication Prize are that the work be "on a topic in American Science ('American' loosely defined to include the western hemisphere, 'science' conservatively defined to exclude articles focusing on either the 'clinical and social history of medicine' or the 'history of technology')."
"American loosely defined," "science conservatively defined." On the one hand, these criteria are easy to understand (and justify). The looseness of the former accommodates work on Central and South America that has no other group identity in HSS; the rigidness of the latter prevents encroachment from those working on topics (medicine, technology) with their own associations, annual meetings, and opportunities for prizes elsewhere. Definiti…
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