Core Skills Analysis
Science
The student placed gummy bears in salt water and vegetable oil, then weighed them. The activity explored how different liquids affected the gummy bears and introduced comparisons involving mass. The student practiced observing changes, controlling conditions by using different liquids, and collecting measurable evidence. Because the activity description did not state the results, the student’s specific conclusions about absorption, floating, sinking, or mass change remained to be determined from the measurements.
Math
The student used weighing as a quantitative way to compare the gummy bears before or after exposure to the liquids. This involved reading measurements, organizing values, and identifying whether the masses differed between samples. The student could calculate changes by subtracting an initial mass from a later mass, although the activity description did not provide the actual measurements. The investigation therefore connected measurement and comparison to a real-world experiment.
Tips
Tips: Have the student weigh each gummy bear before placing it in a liquid and again after a set amount of time, recording the data in a table. Keep the gummy bears and liquid amounts as similar as possible, and include a plain-water sample for comparison. Ask the student to make a prediction, describe visible changes, and calculate mass change using subtraction or percentage change. Extend the investigation by testing different soaking times and graphing the results.
Book Recommendations
- What Is the World Made Of? All About Solids, Liquids, and Gases by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld: An accessible introduction to states of matter and how materials behave.
- The Everything Kids' Science Experiments Book by Tom Robinson: A collection of hands-on experiments that encourages observation, measurement, and evidence-based conclusions.
- Science Comics: Explosive Experiments by Irene O'Connell: A graphic science book that presents experiments and scientific thinking in an engaging format.
Learning Standards
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.RP.A.3: Supports using ratios and percentages to describe mass changes when initial and final measurements are available.
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.SP.B.4: Supports displaying numerical measurements in tables or graphs.
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.SP.B.5: Supports summarizing and interpreting measurement data.
- NGSS MS-PS1-3: Connects to investigating how substances interact, provided the student records and explains evidence from the liquid comparisons.
Try This Next
- Create a data table with columns for liquid, starting mass, ending mass, and mass change.
- Write a prediction about which liquid will produce the greatest mass difference and explain the reasoning.
- Draw before-and-after diagrams of the gummy bears and label observable changes.
- Make a bar graph comparing the gummy bears’ measured masses.