youtube bear experiment

Gummy Bear Experiment

Osmosis can be a difficult concept for kids to understand. I’ve always found that visual explanations really hit home with kids and help them to understand. Today we have a growing gummy bear experiment that is a perfect compliment to our Gummy Mummy experiment that explores the science of desiccation and diffusion. Because gummy bears are made of gelatin they will not dissolve in water like other candy will. They will however absorb liquids and change in shape and size. We’ve set up an experiment with four different liquids to see the difference in how the gummy bears are able to absorb each and how they change over the course of the day.

Great Growing Gummies – Gummy Bear Osmosis Experiment

What you will discover in this article!

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What is Osmosis?

Scientifically, Osmosis is when solvent molecules (usually water) cross a semipermeable membrane from an area of lower solute concentration to an area of higher solute concentration. This creates equilibrium between the solute and solvent, balancing the concentration of solutes on both sides of the membrane. Osmosis is a passive process in that it requires no energy from the cell to occur.

Now – that’s a lot of big words and concepts so let’s break down that vocabulary:

Solvent : substance able to dissolve other substances. Solute : a dissolved substance Membrane : a thin, soft flexible sheet or layer especially of a plant or animal part Semi-Permeable Membrane : a membrane that only allows certain substances to pass through. Concentration : the amount of a component in a given substance. Equilibrium : a state of adjustment between opposing or divergent influences or elements

Gummy Bear Osmosis Lab

Gummy Bears Small Clear Bowls or Jars Water Sparkling Water White Vinegar Oil

I like to start this in the morning so you can check on it throughout the day and see the changes in the gummy bears.

STEP 1: Lay out four bowls on the table and put a gummy bear in each bowl. Then beside each bowl put another gummy bear of the same color so you can compare the two easily over the course of the day.

STEP 2: Measure equal amounts of each of your solvents. We used a quarter of a cup of water, sparkling water, white vinegar and oil and poured them over the gummy bears in the bowl.

STEP 3: This is a great time to have a discussion about osmosis and have your kids make predictions about what they think is going to happen in each bowl and why. What effect might each substance have on the gummy bear? Have the kids write down their predictions.

STEP 4: Set a timer for an hour and let the bears do their thing.

STEP 5: Check back each hour for the rest of the day and write down observations over the course of the day.

Gummy Bear Osmosis Experiment Results

Now the exciting part… the results of our experiment! Let’s take a look at the results individually first.

When gummy bears are soaked in water the bear will swell and grow in size. This is because the water will flow into the gummy bear through its semi-permeable membrane. The sugar molecules try to spread and dissolve but they can’t get out of the gelatin so they expand resulting in the gummy bear expanding.

Sparkling Water

Will have a similar result to water. The only difference is that the addition of carbon dioxide to the water can have an acidic effect on the bears which would cause the outside to soften allowing more water to be able to pass through the bear and it swells up more. You will also be able to observe the carbon dioxide bubble sticking to the outside of the bear.

White Vinegar

White Vinegar will have an acidic reaction with the gummy bear softening the outside of it, however the liquid is not as easily absorbed into the bear as water so the gummy may get softer but will not change in size as much as the bears soaked in water.

Because oil is polar it doesn’t mix well with water or other substances. The oil will have very little effect on the bears and you will not see much change if any at all. This gummy bear will also retain its color the best because the oil isn’t breaking down the bear or being absorbed into it so the structure and color will remain the same.

Comparing the Results

The most fascinating part of this experiment is comparing the results of the different solvents. Set the gummy bears out side by side with their controls so you can visually see the differences.

To get really scientific with your results, which is perfect for your older kids or kids needing more of a challenge, have them weigh and measure the gummies and compare results with the controls and each other.

You can also dissect the gummy bears and view them under a microscope to look for microscopic changes.

Extension Ideas

I think your kids will love this Gummy Bear Lab experiment on Osmosis! Encourage your students to get creative and add other variations like adding things like salt or baking soda to the water to see if it changes the results. Or try other solvents.

Want more osmosis experiments? Try this Rainbow Water Beads Experiment or the Bouncy Egg Experiment which involves a chemical reaction and osmosis.

Want more gummy science? Check out our Gummy Mummies . Or make your own gummies! You can check out these recipes on the site: Valentine’s Day Gummies , Star Wars Gummies , Rainbow Dragon Egg Gummies .

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Stay-at-home science project: Enlarge gummy bears to reveal the secrets of osmosis

By Rachel Feltman

Posted on May 4, 2020 4:00 PM EDT

6 minute read

Welcome to PopSci’s at-home science projects series . On weekdays at noon, we’ll be posting new projects that use ingredients you can buy at the grocery store. Show us how it went by tagging your project on social media using #popsciprojects.

Gummy bears are delicious. That’s not up for debate (though you’re welcome to eat a few to prove the hypothesis). But they’re also the perfect critters to help demonstrate a process that makes life as we know it possible: Osmosis.

Believe it or not, osmosis also happens when you drop gummy bears into water, revealing the most basic inner workings of your body’s cells. Just add water and a spoonful of salt to see it happen before your eyes.

• Time: 5 minutes of prep, and 3 to 9 hours of waiting
• Difficulty: easy

What you’ll need

• Gummy bears, preferably dark in color
• Three small bowls
• 2 tablespoons of salt
• (Optional) Ruler
• (Optional) Kitchen scale

Instructions

1. Fill two of your bowls with cool water. Room temperature is fine, but keep away from hot water—it’ll melt your gummy bears.

2. Add the salt to the first bowl. The second should just contain water.

3. Plop one gummy bear into each bowl. Make sure they’re fully submerged. Leave the bowls somewhere they won’t be disturbed. Gummy bears are tempting—even when they’re salty and soggy!

• Note : We tried different types of gummies (including the sour kind coated with mouth-puckering crystals), and we came to the conclusion that the ideal gummy bears for this experiment are dark in color and chewy instead of soft—just the classic gummy bear . A darker color will not dilute so much as to turn the gummy bear totally clear as it absorbs water, and the thicker gelatin mixture will make the candy less likely to fall apart when you take it out for observation. Also, stay away from sour gummies and those with unusual flavor additives, since they are less likely to yield the intended results.

4. Set aside a third gummy as your experimental control. We recommend you do this before you even think about eating the rest of your gummy bears. It’d be tragic to suddenly realize you ate them all and you no longer have a control for your experiment. Keep it dry.

5. Wait for three hours.

6. Check back in on your waterlogged candies. You can scoop them out with a spoon and observe them on a paper towel if you so choose, but be sure to return them to their proper bowls. Take note of how the gummies have changed—write down your observations so you can contrast them with the end results. You can check in again after the next three hours.

7. (Optional) Take some measurements. If your little experimenters need more of a challenge, you can have them measure the bears with rulers and/or kitchen scales, and calculate just how much size and mass the bears have lost or gained.

8. Wait another six hours. The full transformation should be complete around hour nine.

9. Retrieve your bears from their bowls. Use a small spoon and line them up on a plate or paper towel to see how much they’ve changed. The gummy in plain water should be much larger than the unsoaked candy, while the salted water should have kept its bear roughly the same size—unless it’s caused it to shrink. More on that later.

10. Fill a third bowl with cool water and a tablespoon of salt. Place the expanded, waterlogged gummy bear into it and observe it every few hours. It should get noticeably smaller as it soaks.

How it works

Osmosis is the movement of water through a semipermeable membrane—that is, a material with holes large enough to let some things in, but small enough to keep others out. In this process, water moves through the membrane without force or energy, to make water concentration versus other molecules roughly the same on either side.

This process is important in keeping us alive. The outer membrane of our cells is semipermeable and allows small molecules like water and oxygen to pass through while keeping all the cell’s organelles protected and in place. When it’s time to eliminate waste, the cell will start pushing the toxic molecules out, while absorbing water from our blood through osmosis. Once the cell has balanced its water concentration to the one outside of it, it will stop taking in more liquid, thus preventing the cell from bursting.

Gummy bears are made of gelatin and sugar, and the proteins that make up gelatin are very similar to the outer membranes of our cells. Just like them, the gummy bear’s gelatin “skin” will allow water and other small molecules to pass through while keeping larger ones contained—in this case, those larger molecules are the sugar that make gummy bears taste so good.

When you place a gummy bear into water, the sugar molecules will try to spread out and disperse evenly through the water bowl. But the gelatin membrane won’t let them out. That sugar also makes the gummy have a relatively low concentration of water compared to the liquid around it. Osmosis seeks to correct this imbalance, so water will keep pushing into the gummy and through the membrane until the concentration is the same on either side of the gelatin. This means your gummy is going to absorb lots and lots of water.

In a solution of water and salt, the bowl and the bear have similar water concentrations, so the candy may stay about the same size or even shrink, if the water is salty enough. Just as the sugar in the bear lowers its water concentration, the salt in the bowl means a lower ratio of water to other molecules. As a response, the bear may push out water in order to dilute the liquid inside the bowl. If you place the water-swelled bear into a salt solution, those extra water molecules will leave the bear to lower the salt concentration in the bowl.

If you have time (and gummies) to spare, you can elaborate on this experiment by testing different salt concentrations. You can line up several bowls with increasing quantities of salt in the same amount of water. The more salt you add, the more your candy should shrink.

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Grow a Gummy Bear STEM Challenge

February 15, 2024 By Emma Vanstone Leave a Comment

Have you ever wished your sweets were bigger? One easy way to grow a gummy bear or any other jelly type sweet is to put it in water. The candy will grow but might not taste as good!

Water moves into the gummy bear through a process called osmosis . Osmosis is the movement of water through a semi-permeable membrane from an area of high water concentration to an area of low water concentration. Water moves across the membrane until the water concentration is the same on both sides.

We designed an investigation to find out what happens to a gummy bear in plain water and salt water.

You’ll need

Gummy bears or other jelly sweet

Kitchen scales – optional

Small bowls or cups

Instructions

Add enough water to two small bowls to cover the gummy bear completely. Each bowl should contain the same amount of water.

Add a tablespoon of salt to one bowl and stir well.

Weigh each gummy bear and record the weight.

Place one gummy bear into each bowl.

Keep a third gummy bear to one side. This is the control gummy bear.

Check every 30 minutes for about 3 hours.

Weigh the gummy bears again.

You should find that the gummy bear in plain water increases in size, and the gummy bear in salt water either shrinks or stays the same size.

The biggest gummy bear was the one soaked in plain water and the one at the bottom the control.

Extension Tasks

Add the expanded gummy bear to salt water and leave for several hours. It should shrink back down as water moves out of the gummy bear and into the salty water.

Set up an investigation with a series of bowls containing different amounts of salt. Watch what happens to each gummy bear!

What’s happening

Gummy bears and other jelly sweets are made mostly from water, gelatin and sugar. The concentration of water inside the gummy bear is low compared to outside the gummy bear, so water moves into the sweet by osmosis. This is why the gummy bear in plain water grows in size.

The concentration of the water in the salty water is probably similar to that inside the gummy bear, so this sweet does not increase in size. If you made the water extra salty, the gummy bear might shrink as water moves out of the bear into the water.

More science ideas

Learn more about osmosis with eggs ! If you remove the shell of an egg with vinegar to reveal the membrane and place it in water, the egg will grow in size as water moves into the egg.

Build candy towers, a candy house, try some candy chromatography and more with my collection of candy science experiments .

Last Updated on February 16, 2024 by Emma Vanstone

Safety Notice

Science Sparks ( Wild Sparks Enterprises Ltd ) are not liable for the actions of activity of any person who uses the information in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources. Science Sparks assume no liability with regard to injuries or damage to property that may occur as a result of using the information and carrying out the practical activities contained in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources.

These activities are designed to be carried out by children working with a parent, guardian or other appropriate adult. The adult involved is fully responsible for ensuring that the activities are carried out safely.

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Easy Winter Science Experiment – Grow Your Own Polar Bear

I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love the grow your own polar bear easy winter science experiment . First of all, anything with gummy bears is always a hit with kids… and yes I let them eat a couple pieces of candy. Second of all, these booklets are the easiest way to teach the parts of the scientific method.   This lesson is perfect for winter, a polar bear unit, or just because! I’ll take you through the steps and results that I got with my class so you can try it out too!

1. Collect Polar Bear Winter Science Experiment Materials!

2. Teaching the Scientific Method!

3. The Gummy Bear Science Experiment Results!

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You may also like, 4 easy winter science experiments for kids, thanksgiving opinion writing prompt for kids, 2nd grade winter activities for the classroom.

This Simple Gummy Bear Experiment Is The Perfect Way to Teach Complex Genetics

Say a red gummy bear has a baby with a yellow gummy bear – what percentage of red and yellow do the parents give to their children?

Well, assuming gummy bear genetics works the same way we do, they'll have one set of chromosomes from their mum and one from their dad – so 50 percent from each – easy!

But before our pairs of chromosomes (and the genes they're made up of) get passed onto the next generation they get jumbled around . For example, DNA from chromosome 3 that you inherited from your mum will be swapped with the equivalent section of DNA from your second version of chromosome 3, that you got from your dad, in a process called genetic recombination.

That means the red and yellow gummy bear's kids wouldn't necessarily have a quarter of each of their gummy grandparents' DNA.

So, as the half red half yellow gummies start to pair up, and then their children, the mix starts to get a little hazy.

We stumbled over this delicious idea of gummy bear genetics first on New York University social neuroscientist Jay Van Bavel's Twitter account while it was going viral and decided to make our own version. Despite being a simple idea, it shows that genetics can quickly get complicated.

Obviously, although this is a delicious way to show inheritance, it doesn't show everything. For example, the picture doesn't show us any dominant or recessive traits.

In fact, gummy bears are regularly used in the biology classroom to show genetic inheritance, to show one of the most important parts of basic genetics – how gene variants are passed on. To show exactly how specific genes and their associated traits are received from mum and dad (and to work out the ratios of how to split the gummy bears ) you might need to draw up something that all high school biology students should be familiar with…

…the good old Punnett square. This allows you to see which trait is dominant (the capital letter) as well as the possible combinations of traits you can end up with.

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Polar Bear Blubber Experiment

How do polar bears stay warm with those freezing temperatures, icy water, and relentless wind in the Arctic? What keeps a polar bear warm when its natural habitat is so harsh? This simple but classic polar bear blubber experiment will help kids feel and see what keeps those big guys (and gals) warm! Simple winter science experiments help to shape kids’ minds!

HOW DO POLAR BEARS STAY WARM?

POLAR BEAR BLUBBER EXPERIMENT

To start this experiment, you need to ask your kids a few questions and get them thinking Ask your kids how they think polar bears stay warm when swimming around in the icy arctic water. What about them keeps them warm if they don’t wear clothes like us. Why don’t polar bears start to freeze in the water? Hint: there’s a thick layer of fat included! Brrr…

YOU WILL NEED THE FOLLOWING:

• Large container or bowl
• Lots of ice cubes
• Vegetable shortening
• Two plastic baggies (Ziplock Bags)
• Food Coloring (optional)

HOW TO SET UP YOUR BLUBBER EXPERIMENT

Before you begin, you may want to pair this lesson with the scientific method . You can use this with younger and older students with simple alterations that you can read about here .

Check below for another option to extend the learning or to lessen the mess!

STEP 1. First, you need to fill a large bowl with a good amount of ice and water. Add blue food coloring if desired.

STEP 2. Next, have your kid place his/her hand briefly in the water. It’s cold! There’s no need to linger in the water for safety.

STEP 3. Now, for the messy part, fill one plastic bag with shortening.

STEP 4. Have your kids place one hand in another bag and the other hand inside the blubber/fat-filled bag. Seal the tops with duct tape so water can’t get into the bags. Make sure to move the fat around, so it covers your hand completely.

NOTE: For a less messy version, see below!

Fun Fact: Polar Bears have 4″ thick layers of blubber to keep them toasty and store nutrients when there isn’t much food available.

STEP 5. Put the bag-covered hands in the freezing water. What do they notice? Does the water feel less cold or not?

ALTERNATE BLUBBER GLOVE

You can use two gloves with vegetable shortening for a less messy way. For a less messy version, go ahead and cover the outside of one bag with shortening, place that bag inside another bag, and seal everything tightly! This way, your hand stays clean inside the bag, and the shortening is sandwiched between two bags.

This also allows older students to test different kinds of insulators because of the sandwich method. What else can be used between the two layers of bags? This turns it into a true science experiment for kids in older grades. Make sure to write out a hypothesis before getting started. Read up on the scientific method here.

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If your kids haven’t already guessed what keeps polar bears warm, they will have a better idea once they make their own polar bear blubber glove! Blubber or a thick layer of fat keeps them warm. Polar bears are warm-blooded mammals like us! What the heck are they doing in the Arctic?

The blubber also stores nutrients needed for survival in this harsh climate. Learn more about the Arctic with Biomes of the World !

Of course, polar bears aren’t covered in cooking lard like Crisco, but they have their own kind of lard called blubber that helps out. The fat molecules in shortening work in a similar way to that of blubber! However, several special adaptations work together for maximum heat retention.

POLAR BEAR ADAPTATIONS

Polar bears use a combination of fur and blubber to keep warm. Thick fur and thick fat keep these warm-blooded mammals warm in temperatures up to -50 degrees! That’s pretty cold.

They have two types of fur. These bears have long, oily, hollow hairs that help keep water away but also help trap heat. The second type of fur consists of short insulating hairs. These hairs keep heat close to the skin.

Oh, and did you know these magnificent creatures with whitish fur, actually have black skin? This also helps to keep polar bears warm by absorbing the sun’s rays.

Some adaptations include small ears, so the ears don’t get too cold, “sticky” pads for gripping ice, and 42 very sharp teeth for catching their dinner!

POLAR BEAR By Candace Fleming ad Eric Rohman is an excellent addition to your winter theme library. It’s a fantastic mix of non-fiction storytelling filled with engaging text and plenty of good information! (Amazon Affiliate Link) You can also pair this with the research sheet I added at the end of the article.

ARE POLAR BEARS BUOYANT?

What’s under the black skin? The blubber, of course! The blubber is a thick layer below the skin that can be up to 4.5 inches thick! WOW! It now only helps them stay warm, but it also helps to keep them afloat. You can check out this simple buoyancy science experiment to learn more about that!

Blubber is stored up fat. It creates a cozy blanket for the polar bear when combined with different types of fur. It also has another useful property in that it can help provide life-sustaining energy when food sources are scarce. Blubber is important to the life of a polar bear!

ALSO CHECK OUT: How Do Whales Stay Warm?

WINTER SCIENCE ACTIVITY

The winter season is a terrific time to explore different science concepts and keep the excitement of science alive! Learning about animals and animal habitats is always a favorite of young kids. Use this science experiment with small groups in the classroom or with several kids at home!

So next time you want to share something fun with the kids or if you are exploring an arctic unit, break out this polar bear blubber experiment . We will share a few more fun facts with you about how polar bears keep warm, and this winter science activity is a great hands-on way for kids to feel it as well.

You may also want to make a polar bear puppet or a paper plate polar bear craft !

Read below the activity for a bit of science behind the chilly fun, and see how polar bears brave the elements in style. Oh, and make sure your kids know that polar bears and penguins don’t hang out together!

Learn what role polar bears have in the food chain .

FREE Printable Winter STEM Guide

More fun and easy winter science activities can be found here.

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Is there something we can use as a substitute for shortening? Because our schools is remote learning parents have to have any supplies we need available in their homes. I worry this may not be a pantry staple for all our families.

Hmm, butter is not going to be as good and may be more wasteful than picking up a tub of sshortening. Other than that maybe someone else has a good idea and can reply to you!

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Science Fun

Polar Bear Blubber

• 2 gallon sized zipper lock bags
• 4 tablespoons of shortening
• ice (crushed/cubed)
• 1 gallon bucket

Instructions:

• Fill bucket halfway with the cold water.
• Add enough ice to make water chilly.
• Add 4 tablespoons of shortening in one of the ziploc bags.
• Put empty ziploc bag inside of the ziploc bag with shortening in it. Put your hand in the empty ziploc bag, this way your hand stays clean during the experiment.
• With other hand spread shortening all over the outside of the inner bag.
• Now fold the top of the inner ziploc bag over the top of the outer ziploc bag. Now the shortening is stuck between the two bags. To make sure the shortening stays secure duct tape this fold.
• Finally, stick your hand in to the into your new blubber glove and dip it into the bucket of ice cold water.

VIDEO COMING SOON BUT YOU CAN STILL ENJOY THESE AWESOME EXPERIMENTS!

How it Works:

Shortening is a fat just like blubber is, and fat acts like an insulator. An insulator stops energy from flowing the way that it usually does, from things that are hot to things that are not. So the body heat that polar bears create is trying to flow from the body to the outside chilly temperatures, but because of the flubber, it stops it from escaping.

Extra Experiments:

• Try to use other types of insulators such as butter, cotton balls, or sand. Which one works as the best insulator?
• Try using one hand in the glove and the other had in the water. Make observations using touch describe how it feels.
• Try using room temperature water or water that is 100 degrees Fahrenheit (Be careful with hot water when you are testing it). Does the glove work in these situations?

EXPLORE TONS OF FUN AND EASY SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS!

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Growing Gummy Bear Science

Looking for a fun candy science experiment ?!  Learn about osmosis with this oh-so-simple gummy bear science experiment!

Go ahead! Raid your candy stash – and this time you can do it in the name of science!

Follow the simple step-by-step below and then grab 30 more easy-to-follow science experiments kids will beg to repeat (plus a no prep science journal to keep track of their results!) in our shop !

Getting Ready

To prep, I gathered 2 small bowls, water, salt and gummy bears, of course.  It couldn’t get much simpler than that.

Growing Gummy Bears

In this candy science experiment , we compared gummy bears left in water to those placed in salt water.

To get started, we needed to make about a cup of supersaturated salt water solution.  So, we added salt, a little bit at a time, to a cup of boiling water until no more salt dissolved.  (Please use caution when allowing your little one to work with hot water.)

Once the water couldn’t hold anymore salt, we let it cool in the fridge.  If you use warm water for your experiment, you could melt your gummy bear.

When the salt water cooled, it was time to fill the bowls.  My kids poured a little salt water in one bowl and plain tap water in another.

Next, we gathered our gummy bears and compared them to pick ones of similar size.

They placed a couple gummy bears in the salt water and a couple in the plain water. They wanted to eat the remaining gummies, but I reminded them we needed to save them as the controls.  We wanted to be sure we could compare what happened to the ones we put in the different water solutions.

Now all we had to do was wait!

We started this experiment in the evening so we waited overnight.

You’ll need to let them soak for several hours, but I wouldn’t leave them for longer than overnight or they might fall apart on you.

My 5 year-old predicted the gummy bears in the plain water would expand and the ones in the salt water would shrink.

This is what we found the next morning….

The yellow bear was the control, the red was the salt water gummy and the green was soaked in plain water.

Both kiddos were surprised to see how much bigger the bears soaked in plain water had become.  They noticed the bears soaked in salt water were a little bit bigger but not that much.

My curious 3 year-old decided he needed to eat his gummy and popped a salt water gummy in his mouth. Oh, was he surprised when it was salty on the inside!

The Science Behind Growing Gummy Bears

To make gummy bears, sugar, gelatin and flavor are dissolved in a warm water solution.

As the solution cools, water leaves the gelatin solution and the bears become firm but chewy.  (Not all the water leaves the gelatin however, otherwise the gummy bears would be rock hard.)

It’s this little bit of water that makes the gummy bears act as a solution of water, one with a lot of sugar dissolved in it.

The plain water in the bowl, however, had very little dissolve in it.  We’ve learned from our egg experiment (the one with the dissolved shell) that different solutions of water will want to balance each other.

The plain water, with very little dissolved in it, will move toward the solution of water with a lot dissolved in it, the gummy bear.

This movement of a solvent from one of lower concentration to higher concentration is called osmosis.

The force behind that movement of water is called osmotic pressure.

In the bowl with the salt water, we tried to balance the amount of stuff (salt) dissolved in the water with the amount of sugar dissolved in the gummy bear.

Since our gummy bear placed in the salt water solution did expand a little bit, we knew our salt water solution did have a lot dissolved in it but not quite as much as the gummy bear did.

So, a little water moved into the gummy bear to balance the two solutions.

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Gummy Bear Science Project

Are you wondering what a gummy bear experiment is? What liquid makes a gummy bear grow? Or what happens when you put gummy bears in water?

Did you know a gummy bear will grow when placed in a variety of liquids by using the process known as osmosis? Since the gummy bear water was removed when it was created, when you place a gummy bear in water the water will move into the bear by osmosis. But in which liquid will the gummy bear grow the most? Find out as we use the scientific method in this gummy bear science experiment !

Undoubtedly, this is one of our favorite science experiments of all time, we call it Gummy Bear Osmosis.  One of our contributors, Jordyn C. Jordyn , performed this gummy bear osmosis experiment with her children, and we will share her results with you below, but if you’d like to perform your own experiment, here is what you will need.

Scientific Terms to Know For the Gummy Bear Science Experiment

• osmosis – passing of a material (like water) through a membrane (a gummy bear)
• equilibrium – a state where opposite forces are balanced so one isn’t stronger than the other
• membrane – a thin, soft layer of material that separates two things
• cells – basic building blocks of all things
• semi-permeable – only certain, small molecules can get through
• solute – a substance that dissolves (like sugar in water)
• solvent – a substance that is able to dissolve other substances (like the water that dissolves the sugar)
• gelatin – a food ingredient made from collagen that makes liquids become squishy solids (like jello, marshmallows, gummies, etc.)
• gummy bear – a gelatin substance with no water

Science Behind the Gummy Bear Experiment Explained

This science experiment lab is supporting the concepts of osmosis, equilibrium, solutions, solutes, and solvents . A solution is a homogenous mixture of one or more substances. The parts that are mixed to achieve a solution are called the solute and the solvents .

In most cases, a sugary substance (sugar or even sugary candy) will dissolve quickly and easily in water. When you dissolve sugar in water, the water becomes the solvent and the sugar is the solute . While there can only be one solvent in a solution, but there can be many solutes (gummy bears, sugar, candy, etc).  However, in this science lab, we will be using water and several other types of solvents like vinegar, milk, saltwater, or other solvents (liquids) you have on hand to use in the experiment.

What Is Happening In this Gummy Bear Experiment

In this experiment, the water or liquid can enter the gummy through the membrane without letting out the sugar. The change that will occur to the gummy bears is osmosis and the process that it uses is equilibrium .  This process of equilibrium allows water to diffuse from a higher area of concentration to a lower area of concentration. For a visual explanation, you can watch this science experiment video , or use this Gummy Bear Chemistry PowerPoint .

The point of this science lab experiment is to understand the process of osmosis and equilibrium . Watch this video on osmosis before the experiment to help the kids understand the background concepts thoroughly. Then take time to print out the Gummy Bear Osmosis Lab Printables or the Science Experiment Journal Kit at the bottom of this post.  In additon, you may also want to discuss the concept of semi-permeable membranes and, if your homeschoolers are old enough, you could even try this experiment using eggs and other solvents as well! In fact, we really enjoyed this osmosis experiment using eggs .

Additionally, it is a good idea to use the same color gummy bear throughout the experiment. We know colors are fun, but when you use different colors, that adds a variable to the experiment. Or in other words, it adds another option or reason for a difference in the end result. However, if we use all the same color and same size gummy bears, then the end results of our experiment will be more reliable.

Materials You Need for The Gummy Bear Science Project

• Gummy bears (for experimentation and comparison…and maybe an extra pack for snacking)
• A small glass for each water/solution
• Baking soda
• Paper towels
• Kitchen scale

Instructions for Gummy Bear Experiment

• Then, add a half cup of water to the tap water glass.
• Then, add a half cup of water and 1 tablespoon of salt to the saltwater glass. Stir the salt until it is dissolved.
• Next, add a half cup of water and 1 tablespoon of sugar to the sugar water glass. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
• Then, add a half cup of water and 1 tablespoon of baking soda to the baking soda water glass. Stir until the baking soda is dissolved.
• Then, add a half cup of your soda of choice to the soda glass.
• Next, add a half cup of vinegar to the vinegar glass.
• Finally, add a half cup of milk to the milk glass.

**Any of these liquids can be omitted or changed according to your preference.**

• Weigh and measure a gummy bear and record results.
• Add one gummy bear to each glass of liquid.
• Set a timer for 12 hours.
• After the timer goes off, remove each gummy bear from its solution, weigh, measure, and compare to a new gummy bear.
• Discuss the results and complete the worksheet (found below).

**To extend the experiment, return the gummies to their original glasses for an additional 12 hours and check results again.**

One Family’s Gummy Bear Osmosis Experiment

“Science is fun at our house, and we decided to try the dissolving gummy bear experiment. We decided to try different liquids and solutions to see if we would get different results. First, we measured and weighed the gummy bears and recorded our results. Next, we put a gummy bear in plain water, sugar water, saltwater, vinegar, milk, and baking soda water. We let them sit for 12 hours and then checked on them the next morning to see what had happened. Testing Our Gummy Bear Osmosis Lab Results We decided to try different liquids and solutions (further expanding on our solubility lesson a.k.a. gummy bear experiment) to see if we would get different results.  First, we measured and weighed the gummy bears and recorded our results. Next, we put a gummy bear in plain water, sugar water, saltwater, vinegar, milk, and baking soda water.  We let them sit for 12 hours and then checked on them in the morning to see what had happened. The results were quite surprising! The kids all wanted to know what had happened and why they hadn’t dissolved like other water experiments we had tried. Scientific Conclusions For The Gummy Bear Experiment The results were quite surprising to my kids! Instead of dissolving, the gummies grew, some to almost triple their original size! We compared our new gummies to their unchanged counterparts and noted our scientific observations including weight and measurements. The gummy bear that absorbed the most was the one put in plain water. The one that grew the least was the one put in saltwater. Interestingly, the gummy bears remained completely intact, just larger, with the exception of the one put in vinegar. The gummy bear we put in vinegar did expand, but lost all of its gummy bear shape and just became a blob. We believe that the acid in the vinegar dissolved the gummy bear completely. The answer to our gummy bear experiment was simple.   Osmosis !  I explained that osmosis is when a liquid (usually water) moves from one side of a membrane to another. Science is All About Trying Again I was met with blank stares and crickets….hmmmm….let’s try this again…..I told them to imagine themselves at the Haunted Mansion at Disney on a really crowded day. They take you into the little room and cram you all together before the ride starts. Think of how uncomfortable you feel pushing against other people, just wanting to get out, when finally they open the door and you are able to move away from other people and through the door.  This is exactly the same as osmosis .  You are water molecules , with the door being the membrane . The water molecules are all crammed up, so they move to where there are none of them, through the membrane. Then they got it!  I explained that the gummy bears were not solutes, they were actually polymers and therefore were able to absorb the water by osmosis.  Cool!! We got out our sheet and compared our new gummies to their unchanged counterparts and noted our scientific observations including weight and measurements.  You can clearly see that the gummy bear that absorbed the most was the one put in plain water, while the one that was the one put in saltwater changed the least. Interestingly, the gummy bears remained completely intact, just grew larger, with the exception of the one put in vinegar. We posit that the acid in the vinegar dissolved the gummy bear completely into this gummy blob. This science experiment was so easy and so much fun! The kids loved it, and it was awesome to see that they actually retained what they learned. It was the perfect way to bring in some fun STEM learning to our homeschool science. Our gummy bear science project was a success!” – Jordyn C. 

Gummy Bear Science Project Results. Why Did the Bears Get so Big?

Well, we already know from the introduction that water diffuses from an area of high concentration of water molecules to an area of low water concentration. At the beginning of the experiment, there is less water and more gelatin inside each gummy bear. As time goes on, this changes and the gummy bear begins to act as a sponge.

In the last part of this experiment, water moves into the Gummy Bear, clearly where there are fewer water molecules. Therefore, making it swell up. In fact, the water keeps moving until the water molecules are evenly spaced out (for example: when they have reached equilibrium). In the end, the molecules will stop diffusing when they reach equilibrium or when there is the same concentration of water molecules in the gummy bears as there are outside of the gummy bears.

Start Here: Print Your Gummy Bear Experiment Worksheet pdf

Obviously, every good experiment makes use of lab notes. Along with the steps above, we’ve compiled gummy bear experiment notes that will help you work through this experiment and learn the science behind it. This set includes Gummy Bear Science:

• Terms to define
• Experiment chart
• Experiment Follow-up Questions

Additional Science Lab Experiments To Try After The Gummy Bear Experiment

If your kiddos loved doing this lab, then you’ll want to explore our collection of fun and free science-based lesson plans for kids who hate science ! We know how difficult it is to plan and execute science experiments while you are homeschooling multiple children. It’s so important to make the experience unbelievably fun homeschool science and to fun ways to bring science labs into everyday life. We have three homeschool science experiments that are sure to help you do that with minimal effort. Our simple home science experiments will have your kids laughing and wanting more. Try our science slime experiments and the soggy cereal science experiment as your next adventure in homeschool science labs!

Jamie Gaddy

Jamie Gaddy, B.S., M.Ed., Ed.D. has been a college education professor for over 17 years. Education has been a part of her life in both the classroom and as a principal. Six children later found her dissatisfied with traditional school and homeschool became the better fit. She is also a pastor’s wife, editor, and entrepreneur who now homeschools four of her six children in Georgia. Jamie loves to share about her homeschool experience to help other homeschoolers find success. Connect with her at [email protected] .

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Materials you could use

This activity is all about creating your own gummy HULK BEARS using the power of osmosis!

Your gummy bears will increase in size because of a process called osmosis. Gummy bears are made of sugar, gelatine and a small amount of water. When they are put into a cup they become surrounded by water. The skin on a gummy bear is not waterproof and has lots of microscopic holes in it that we cannot see. Those holes let water molecules move through that skin and because there is less water in the gummy bear, the water molecules from the glass will move from the cup into the bear!

Investigation idea: take lots of different gummy bears and try them for different periods of time. Maybe try different water, by adding a lot of sugar maybe, or even salt? Consider the temperature of the water even? The key here is to change one thing at a time so that you can investigate the impact of that single variable. Write down what happens and record your results!

Our favourite fact

In the original comic books Hulk was supposed to be grey but due to early printing problems with this colour, the artist chose to make him green!

Suitable For

Curriculum areas, curriculum objectives.

During years 5 and 6, pupils should be taught to use the following practical scientific methods, processes and skills through the teaching of the programme of study content:

• planning different types of scientific enquiries to answer questions, including recognising and controlling variables where necessary
• taking measurements, using a range of scientific equipment, with increasing accuracy and precision, taking repeat readings when appropriate
• using test results to make predictions to set up further comparative and fair tests
• reporting and presenting findings from enquiries, including conclusions, causal relationships and explanations of and a degree of trust in results, in oral and written forms such as displays and other presentations

Related Activities

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A FUN POLAR SCIENCE EXPERIMENT

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Questions!  Oh, the questions!  If you’ve ever sat in a kindergarten or first-grade class, you know that you have a full day of questions.  Especially if you introduce a topic they are unfamiliar about.  My little learners ask so many great questions during our polar animal unit.  This polar science experiment is a great way to answer a lot of questions!

And it’s perfectly normal for their little minds to be so curious.  It would worry me a little if a day went by without multiple questions being asked.  In fact, the number of questions increases greatly when we are learning about things the students have never seen or experienced.

Curious Minds Want to Know

The best way to help those curious minds is to experience something first hand.  Sounds easy, right?  Field trips are excellent activities, but what if you can’t…let’s say….go to the Arctic?  That’s just a little too far for a day trip!

So if you can’t take your kids to experience the Arctic, what’s the next best thing?  Bring the Arctic to them!

My winter units are a perfect way to engage my learners after a long holiday break.  They’re tired.  They want to be home doing anything other than school.  It’s my job to bring in my best activities to get them back into learning mode.  And who doesn’t love arctic animals?

First, I begin with a huge collection of polar animal books in my library.  I make a point to read one book a day from my stash – a mixture of fiction and nonfiction just to keep it interesting!

Next, we go into lots of discussion about what types of animals live in the Arctic and Antarctic.  (Did you know there was a difference?  I didn’t until I started teaching! First-year teachers, BEWARE!  There is a difference!) This is even a great time to pull out our  Habitat lapbook !

Now, here is where the fun begins!  Just a few simple supplies are all you need to create an engaging experiment that your students will love!

• Ziplock bags
• observation sheet (download below!)

What’s the BIG Deal About Blubber?

As humans, we’ll never know what it’s like to have a layer of blubber to keep us warm in harsh weather conditions.  But we can create fun experiments that might give them an idea!

Before the start of the experiment, fill two bowls with ice water.

Next, put about a cup of crisco in one quart size ziplock bag.

Then, place another ziplock bag inside the crisco filled bag (this will create a pocket for your students’ hands)

After that, add a piece of duct tape along the top of the bag on both sides and fold the tape over to secure both bags in place.

Next, put another ziplock bag on the other hand.

Here is where the excitement begins! At the same time, place both hands into each bowl.  Let your students take some time to see and feel the difference in each hand. Give your students the opportunity to explain their findings while both hands are in the ice water.

To grab this  FREE   science observation sheet, click on the link below!

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Gummy Bears and Lasers!

Introduction: Gummy Bears and Lasers!

Gummy Bears, it turns out, are great for demonstrating the otherwise abstract concepts that describe the most basic of light-matter interactions: Absorption, Transmittance and Reflection.

Step 1: Materials

1 Green Laser Blox

1 Red Laser Blox

1 White LED

1 Each: clear, red, green Gummy Bears

1 sheet of plain white paper

1 sheet of waxed paper

1 transparency or clear plastic baggie

Step 2: Background

A common misconception, is that color is a property of matter. This underlying misconception leads to all manner of confusion – like the idea that when white light passes through a green object to cast a green glow on the paper, the object is adding color to the otherwise clear, “natural” light. No matter how many times you think about it, its hard to grasp the idea that whenShine the white LED towards the students and remind them that white light is composed of many (“all”) wavelengths or frequencies of light. Explain that the LED is a light source – and that they can see directly the light that is emitted by the LED.

Ask… what happens when white light interacts with “something”?

Facing students, shine the LED at the white paper and ask – what’s happening to the light?

Repeat with the waxed paper and the plastic baggie.you see an object as red, what’s really happening is that most of the wavelengths that make up white light are being absorbed by the object and only the wavelength we know as red is being reflected. What you “see” is the red light transmitted to their eyes.

When LASER light, which is monochromatic (composed of a single color or wavelength) hits something, it is absorbed, converting light energy into heat, it is reflected, or it is transmitted. But most of the light you are familiar with is white light, composed of many colors, or wavelengths. When white light hits an object, the object selectively absorbs, reflects or transmits certain wavelengths. The way that light interacts with an object depends on the wavelength(s) of light and the nature of the atoms in the object.

A material will absorb frequencies of light that match the frequency at which electrons in the atoms that make up a material vibrate. Because different materials are made up of atoms whose electrons vibrate at different frequencies, different materials absorb different frequencies of light. This breaks up the notion that the reason light passes through a material or not because of its “thickness”.

Light that a material does not absorb is either reflected, or transmitted.

The way in which we see color is due in large part to the way light interacts with matter. So the color was never in the object…only in the light that shines upon it and ultimately is reflected to our eyes.

Step 3: White Light

Take a look at the white LED - recall that white light is composed of many (“all”) wavelengths or frequencies of light.

Shine the LED at the white paper and ask – what’s happening to the light? Most of it is "blocked" right?

Repeat with the waxed paper and the plastic baggie. More light passes through.

Now shine the white LED at the green gummy - see the green "shadow"? Only green light can pass through the green gummy - all other wavelengths are being absorbed.

Repeat with the white LED and the red gummy - see the red "shadow"? Only red light can pass through the red gummy - all other wavelengths are being absorbed.

Step 4: Terminology

Transmittance is the fraction of incident light at a specified wavelength that passes through something (like a gummy bear). Mathematically, transmittance is the ratio of the intensity of the light that passe through a sample to the intensity of the light when it entered the sample or T = I out / I in

Reflection is the change in direction of a wavefront at an interface between two different media so that the wavefront returns into the medium from which it originated.

Absorbance is the measure of the quantity of light that a sample neither transmits nor reflects.

Step 5: Transmission

Now shine the green Laser through the green gummy bear. The bear "glows" green, and you can see that the green light is passing through the gummy bear... the green light is being transmitted.

Repeat with the red laser and the red gummy bear. As you might predict, the bear glows red, and you can see that the red light is passing through the red gummy bear... red light is being transmitted.

Now... what might happen if you shine the green laser at the red gummy and/or the red laser at the green gummy? Will the gummy glow? What color? Let's see!

Step 6: Absorption

When you shine the red laser at the green gummy - virtually NO light passes through! Why? Because the green gummy absorbs the red light. The light is blocked by the color of the gummy - not the "thickness".

Same when you shine the green laser at the red gummy! Virtually no light passes through - again because the red gummy absorbs the green light!