Cooperative Living October 2018 - 36

Kids'Korner | Story, photos and artwork by Anne M. Dellinger, Contributing Columnist
Halloween Candy Science ~~~ Cool Tricks for the Treats
" Mom, dad, I got too much Halloween candy! " said no child ever!
W
hat trick-or-treater would
even think that a
Jack-o-lantern
overflowing with treats was a
tad excessive? At the end of the
day, isn't Oct. 31 all about
ghosts and goblins gathering
up as many sweets as their
containers will hold?
As kids dream of endless sugar
snacks lasting for weeks, parents
foresee spoiled appetites, bouncingoff-the-wall
children and a daily struggle to control the calorie
overload. Come Nov. 1, most families will be looking for
other ways, besides eating, to use up the sweet stockpile.
Thankfully, there are solutions for shrinking the stash
and hopefully restoring harmony in the home.
Give Some Away
Certain charitable organizations will gladly accept unopened
candy. This website suggests many sweet ways to donate to
worthy causes - mommypoppins.com/halloween-candydonation-candy-buy-back-donating-treats-operation-gratitude.
Save
It and Reuse It
A portion of the candy can be kept for Thanksgiving and
Christmas holidays ... there's no reason that Halloween
treats can't be repurposed into a turkey piñata, advent
calendar or gingerbread house!
Quite a few of those tantalizing Halloween treasures can
be put to scientific use. Invite a friend (who is willing to
share his/her treats for " science " ) to be your lab partner
before heading to the kitchen to try these cool experiments.
Set Up a Candy Lab
~~Candy Diffusion Art~~
Select M&Ms, Skittles and Reese's Pieces for this investigation.
In three different bowls, arrange each of the candies in a
circle around the edges of the bowls. Slowly pour water into
the bowls, covering the candies, and prepare to be dazzled!
Science background - The artificial dyes that cover the
candy shells dissolve in water. As the molecules of dye break
away from the candy, they spread out in a process called
diffusion. The molecules tend to spread from an area where
there are a lot of the same kind of molecule (high concentration)
to an area where there are fewer of that molecule type (lower
concentration). Eventually the molecules will spread out enough
so that the concentration becomes equal everywhere, which is
referred to as equilibrium. However, the molecules don't completely
stop moving at this point. They will still bounce around randomly;
diffusion will continue slowly and, in time, the colors will all mix.
Delve deeper into this experiment by trying these ideas
with fresh candies:
- Use a stopwatch to time the reactions of the candies.
34 | Cooperative Living | October 2018
- Test different temperatures of water to see if that changes
the outcome.
- Test with different liquids such as isopropyl alcohol or
cooking oil.
- Add a small pile of sugar in the centers of the plates before
pouring on the water.
Before
After
More ideas and information about this activity can be found
at scientificamerican.com/article/find-the-candy-rainbowwith-chemistry.
~~Floating
Letters~~
About 5-10 minutes into the candy
diffusion experiment, you may notice
something floating on the surface of the
water in two of the bowls. Look closely
and you'll see that the M letters and S
letters have separated from their
respective candies.
Science background - The letters are of
white, edible ink made from a vegetable dye
that doesn't dissolve in water; therefore,
even though the main part of the candy
shell dissolves, the M's and S's peel off and
float to the top of the water bath.
~~Jolly Rancher Geodes~~
Before conducting this experiment, gather up your Jolly
Ranchers, read the following paragraph about geodes and
discover why the following candy-crushing activity really rocks.
The science behind the sparkle - A geode is a round,
weathered rock with a cavity lined with crystals, such as clear
quartz or purple amethyst. It starts as a hollow bubble inside
a layer of rock, formed either from volcanic action or
perhaps the remains of an animal burrow. As mineral-rich
water flows in and out of the bubble for many millennia,
crystals are left behind and gradually fill the empty space.
You can see why collectors treasure these rugged rocks
with their beautiful, sparkly centers and
long history.
With Jolly Rancher candies, a hammer
and a warm oven, you can bypass nature's
complex crystallization process and create
your own glittering, DIY geodes in a mere
few minutes. This video youtube.com/
watch?v=vLMlFbVZMdQ and these
written instructions will show you how!
co-opliving.com
KIDS! CLIP AND KEEP YOUR KIDS' KORNER COLUMNS IN A THREE-RING BINDER AND YOU'LL HAVE A NOTEBOOK CHOCK FULL OF FUN IDEAS AND ACTIVITIES FOR THE FUTURE!

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/find-the-candy-rainbow http://www.mommypoppins.com/halloween-candy http://www.youtube.com/ http://www.co-opliving.com

Cooperative Living October 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Cooperative Living October 2018