Dissolving Candy Cane

Today we did a little holiday experiment with candy canes.  I had a few students that were disappointed we didn't get to eat them but in my opinion it was much cooler to watch them dissolve in 3 different liquids.  All students made their very own prediction about what they thought would happen when we placed a candy cane into a cup of cold water, hot water, and a cup of vinegar!  They were able to come up with some pretty interesting predictions.  Everyone filled out their prediction data sheet and then we dropped the candy canes in one by one.  We discovered that all of the candy canes eventually dissolved but not at the same pace.  The cup of hot water dissolved the candy cane the fastest.  The cup of vinegar bubbled and stripped the red stripes off of the candy cane immediately after we dropped it in.  The cup of cold water slowly dissolved the candy cane but did leave bits and pieces behind.  It was a fun and interesting twist on a very popular Christmas candy.  I bet next year when my students are hanging candy canes on their Christmas trees they might remember this little experiment.

The candy cane in the cup of vinegar is now white.

The hot water slowly dissolved/melted the candy cane.

Makenna and her classmates were busy writing her predictions.