Coming Soon: the Candy Experiments book!

It's official: my book Candy Experiments will be published next summer by Andrews McMeel.  With several dozen great candy experiments, including several that have never been published, it'll have lots of fun ways to play with candy and learn science at the same time.

Blog Award

Candyexperiments.com just received a Stylish Blogger award from the Homeschool Escapade blog, whose author commented, "Just wanted you to know how much your blog is appreciated (I love all the great ideas)."

Thanks!

Summer Learning at WeTeach

The We Teach group has just published their summer learning ebook, including an activity from me based on Find Hidden Candy. Download the book for fun ways to include math, cooking, science, and many other subjects in your summer activities.  You can also visit the We Teach website to learn more about the group,  a resource for "anyone and everyone who teaches--no matter the classroom!"

Ice Bags--Frozen Fireworks?

On the day we experimented with M&Ms and Ziploc bags of ice to learn about cold water currents, my son and daughter decided to fill baggies with water and put them in the freezer. (Note to self--no wonder I'm out of sandwich bags!)








When I cleaned out the freezer, hoping to sneak the water bags into the garbage, I was amazed by what I saw. Air bubbles had formed lines streaking out from the center of the ice, as if we'd frozen a firework explosion.

The explanation for this phenomenon has to do with the air in the water.  PhD Martin Lersch writes in his food chemistry blog, Kymos, that room temperature water has air dissolved in it, and the amount of air it can hold increases as it gets colder.  (I had to boil water to remove the air for my experiments with floating conversation hearts.)  When the water freezes, "the water can no longer keep the air dissolved and a bubble is formed."  If the ice were to freeze from the inside out, the air could escape naturally.  However, since freezer ice freezes from the outside in, and (presumably) since our ice was enclosed in air-tight Ziploc bags, the air was trapped inside the ice.  We froze the water in large amounts, which contained more air than regular ice cubes.

The result?  Lots of trapped air bubbles forming slow-motion fireworks, a beautiful reminder of Nature's inexhaustible designs.

Egg Decorating

Whenever we do major candy experiments, I end up with stained countertops. So, this Easter, I thought we should try dying Easter eggs with candy.

The Laffy Taffy looked pretty good when it was stuck on the egg. However, when we peeled it off, only one egg had any color left.

We'll have to try better ways to transfer color next year when it's egg season again.

Pixy Stix Art

A new use for Pixy Stix: sand art.

Pixy Stix After the Art

Of course, after you've opened all those Pixy Stix you have to do the acid test. (Pixy Stix are awesome to test, since they dissolve so fast.

Trying something new, my daughter mixed the baking soda with the Pixy Stix while the powder was still dry.

Then we poured in the water. Great bubbles!