CANDY CHROMATOGRAPHY
Perfect for Skittles, Gobstoppers, M&Ms, and similar candies with a colorful and glossy outer coating.


SINK OR FLOAT
All you need is a container of water, assorted candies, and the Scientific Method! Guess which candy will sink and which will float. Test this hypothesis and see the results.


CANDY CLADOGRAM
In science, a cladogram is like a family tree of living things. It groups living things into similar categories and shows you how they are related to each other. Try this with candy. How many categories or groups can you make? From these groups, can you make smaller groups?


CANDY ENGINEERING
What can you build with your candy? The possibilities are endless! Buildings, bridges, cars, and more!


CANDY ACID TEST (from Steve Spangler Science)
A simple experiment to test whether or not candy is acidic. All you need is candies, water, and baking soda. If the candy is acidic, the mixture will bubble and fizz when the baking soda is added.

Simple ingredients plus a head of hair and you have science!

You'll need an empty soda can, a filled balloon, and your hair. Place the can on its side on a table or other flat surface. Rub the balloon back and forth on your hair really fast. This allows you to build up electrons on the balloon. This is called static electricity. Hold the balloon close to the can without actually touching it. The can will start to roll towards the balloon! The electrons on the balloon have the power to pull very light objects (with a positive charge) toward them (like the soda can). Explore what you can make your can do using static electricity and then try the challenges below:

Does the size of the balloon change the power of the pull? Try it again with a very full balloon and one that is mostly empty and compare your results.

Does the length of the persons hair effect the power of the static electricity? Get friends and family members involved in figuring this one out!

How much water can you put in the can until the balloon can’t pull it anymore? Test the strength of static electricity!

As we near the start of our growing season here at the Lab, we've begun to explore creative ways that we can start seeds without purchasing new plastic containers.

For our first experiment, we repurposed old bedding packaging and turned them into mini greenhouses. The packaging had the perfect ingredients- an enclosed plastic container with a convenient zipper on top. Before getting started, we made sure the packaging didn't leak. We added soil, compost from our backyard, and seeds. We filled each mini greenhouse with about 2 inches of soil mix, which is plenty for staring seeds. In  one we planted basil, on the other lettuce. We watered liberally, but not enough to leave puddles (after all, seeds don't swim!). The mini greenhouses were zipped up and placed on a sunny window.


This is when we realized that the container isn't strong enough to stand upright on its own. We incorporated a little engineering to troubleshoot our situation. Using two kebab sticks, we placed them in a crisscross shape in each greenhouse. This provided the needed stability to keep the greenhouses upright. The results below are two weeks later on the lettuce.

What else can you repurpose as a mini greenhouse for starting seeds? How about clear plastic egg containers? There's lots of possibilities! Happy growing!