Where Did It Go?
Word of the day: dissolve
“I can make sugar disappear. Want to see?”
Grab
- 4 clear glasses of water
- spoon
- sugar, salt, sand or dirt, and a little rice or a LEGO
Do
- Put a spoon of sugar in a glass and stir. Watch it vanish.
- Try salt. Then sand. Then rice.
- Line the glasses up. Which ones disappeared and which ones sank?
- Taste test the sugar water. Is the sugar really gone?
The big moment
The sugar vanishes. Then they taste the water.
Ask (guess first, then try)
- Is the sugar gone, or hiding?
- Why didn't the sand disappear?
What's going on (for you)
Sugar and salt dissolve: they break into pieces too tiny to see and spread through the water. They're still there, which is why the water tastes sweet. Sand and rice don't dissolve; they just sink.
If they want more
Warm water vs cold water: which dissolves sugar faster? Leave salt water on a plate in a sunny window for a few days and the salt comes back as crystals.