Sugar Water Density Rainbow Science Experiment

SUGAR WATER DENSITY SCIENCE SET UP

This rainbow sugar water density science experiment is part of our A-Z STEM science for kids month. Science, technology, engineering, and math are so important for children to explore even at an early age! STEM is fun and interesting like this science experiment. What is STEM?. Make sure to read and find out. It is also an cool rainbow science activity to add!

SUPPLIES

6 Glasses or cups

water and 1 cup measuring cup

sugar and measuring teaspoon

food coloring

spoon and baster

test tubes {our favorite science kit}

Set Up: I found the original idea over at Steve Spangler Science. We modified it to work a little easier for us! Set out 6 glasses. Measure 1 cup of water into each glass. This is a great time to explain the importance of all the glasses having the same amount of water! Lesson 1: Color mixing. Have your child mix the colors or help with mixing the colors!

Now to create the density part of the experiment! Leave the red colored water as is {no sugar}. Add 2 teaspoons of sugar to the orange water. Double the amount of teaspoons as you work your way through the rainbow water. 4=yellow, 6=green, 8=blue, 10=purple. Stir and stir until the sugar is dissolved as much as possible. Please note our sugar amounts are different than our source. It just didn’t seem to work for us, so I decided to add more sugar.

You can also make a crystal rainbow that is perfect for all ages!

What is water density?

Density is all about compactness of stuff in a space. For this experiment, the more sugar in the 1 cup of water, the greater the density. Same space, more stuff in it! The denser the substance, the more likely it will sink. This is how our rainbow sugar water density tower works! You can also try salt water density

NOTE: This is probably a better experiment for kindergarten or elementary school age or very patient young children. My son enjoyed trying to make the tower as well as simply experimenting with mixing colors. This rainbow sugar water density tower does take a slow hand and patience. You could also try a density tower with a variety of liquids or even a homemade lava lamp to learn about density.

To make in a baster, squeeze baster and put in red water. Release a little of the pressure to suck up some water. Keeping it squeezed, transfer to orange, release a little more to suck up some water. Continue to do this for all the colors. Make sure you leave enough pressure in the baster to get you through all six colors. Have your child try two colors for an easier version! My husband perfected the method! We love using basters for many of our science activities.

You can also make a rainbow sugar water density tower. We used a test tube from our favorite science kit! This time we found starting with the most dense water {purple} worked the best. Use the baster’s measuring marks to ensure you get the same amount of each color. Add the purple to the tube. Next add the blue, but add the blue very, very slowly. Add to just the surface of the purple right in the middle. Continue to do the same working your way backwards through the colors. Slow and steady. We practiced a few times.

We kept our rainbow around for a couple days It’s so pretty in the light!

Awesome kitchen science you can try today.

Easy sugar water density for kids to try!

Make sure to check out all the amazing ideas in the A-Z of Kid’s STEM activities

Original article and pictures take http://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/sugar-water-density-rainbow-science-experiment/ site