Happy Candy Thanksgiving!

The M&Ms candy shell dissolves in water, but each solution is so dense that the colored fluids push against each other instead of mixing. Meanwhile, surface tension on the edges of the pool hold the water in as the color spreads.

Happy Thanksgiving!



3 Great Gummy Worm Science Experiments

Need a fun science activity? With these gummy worm science experiments, you can make gummy candy grow, shrink, and even dance! These gummy worm experiments can keep kids entertained and teach science at the same time. Read on to find instructions for three favorite candy experiments with gummy worms.

1.Growing Gummy Worms



Try this growing gummy worm science experiment to turn gummy worms into monster gummy snakes. All you have to do is put them in water for two days. The gummy worms absorb water, and the gelatin in the gummy worms both traps the water molecules and holds the gummy worms together. The result? Two days later, you’ll have enormous gummy worms.

You can also do this with gummy bears and some fruit snacks, as long as they contain gelatin.

2. Shrinking gummy worms



Shrink candy in this gummy worm science fair experiment. Prepare different solutions such as orange juice, different concentrations of salt water, and different concentrations of sugar water. Make a hypothesis (prediction) about which solution will shrink the gummy candy most, and test it for your science fair project. You can learn more about the science here.

3. Dancing gummy worms

For this experiment, slice several gummy worms in half lengthwise, soak them in baking soda water, and put them in a cup full of vinegar. The worms will start floating! (See this Scholastic article for more details.)

Enjoy Your Gummy Experiments!

Enjoy making gummy worms grow, shrink, and dance. And check candyexperiments.com for more ways to destroy candy and learn science!

Shrinking Gummy Worms

Shrink candy in this science experiment. You can even do this as a gummy worm science fair project.










What to do:

  1. Prepare several cups of water. Measure out salt or sugar and add to each cup. For instance, you might add one tablespoon of salt to one cup, two tablespoons of salt to a second cup, one tablespoon of sugar to a third cup, and so on. (Make sure to write down how much salt or sugar you added to each cup.)
  2. Make a hypothesis (prediction) about which solution will shrink the gummy candy most. Put a gummy worm in each cup of water.
  3. Leave the worms in water for up to two days.
  4. Remove each worm and measure it to see how much it shrank or grew.
  5. Write down your results and to learn if your hypothesis was correct.
You can do this experiment with gummy worms, gummy bears, or any type of gummy candy that contains gelatin.

What's Happening:


Gummy worms contain water, which is what makes them chewy. When you put a gummy worm in a cup of salt water, the water flows out of the gummy worm into the salt water. This is because water naturally flows from a less concentrated solution (the gummy bear) to a more concentrated solution (the salt water). This process is called osmosis.

This experiment can be found in the book Candy Experiments 2.