Materials: shallow bowl, pie plate or dinner plate with high edges, food colors, milk, toothpick and dish soap
Procedure:
- Fill the bowl or pie plate with milk (you don't need much, about 1 cm deep)
- Add drops of food color scattered around the edges
- Dip the toothpick into dish soap
- Touch the surface of the milk with the soapy end of the toothpick
- Watch what happens
- Most Kid Scientists will want to try this again, once they have seen what happens!
What's Happening?
- First of all, for Little Kid Scientists, the explanation is beyond their understanding and they probably don't care. I like to use this when my kids are squirrely while I am cooking. They can sit at the counter and watch the reaction, while I get dinner ready.
- If Big Kid Scientists are interested in the chemistry involved, then they have their research question to explore. (Hint...there is a connection to drops of water on a penny)
4 Science Moms have commented...:
Ok awesome! I'm going to try this tonight! =) Thanks!
We tried this tonight! So cool! B did it 3 times and would have done it more but we were running low on milk. =) I'm posting about it with a link back to you on the 23rd.
What is supposed to happen? I tried it and nothing happened. I only had food coloring GEL, is that why?
It may be the gels...I haven't tried this reaction with that type of food coloring. It's supposed to swirl and marble, mixing the colors. It's worth trying again!
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