Freezing Art

Pin It

For Christmas I got the kids some liquid water colors because I was tired of struggling to get the water color pellets to produce nice vibrant colors that I had seen on so many art teacher blogs. Our first project with the new liquid water colors was a science experiment on freezing. I got the idea from the book, Science Arts by MaryAnn Kohl and Jean Potter. The book is fantastic. The book uses art projects to explain science concepts. This book is great for a child who loves art or a child that is weary of science.

In this experiment, the concept of diffusion is explored when children paint on a wet piece of paper with water color paints. Diffusion is when the paint molecules spread. Then, the concept of freezing is explored when you place the painted piece of paper is placed outside in freezing temperatures or in the freezer. When freezing occurs, the water molecules line up into organized structures to create sheets of ice. We took the experiment one step further and watched the paper thaw again in the house. In this case you can watch the paint become more diffuse again causing the intensity of the paints to diminish as the pigments in the paint spread out over the piece of paper.  I recommend taking pictures of your paints before freezing, after freezing, and after thawing to see how much the paint diffuses. The results with liquid water colors can be really stunning. This experiment is appropriate for preschool to early elementary aged children. My toddler also participated, but she does not have a concept of diffusion yet.

Science concepts explored in this experiment: diffusion, freezing, states of matter (liquid and solid), thawing

Materials modified from Science Arts p 101

White paper

Water

Liquid water colors

Cookie sheet

Plastic wrap

Freezer or freezing temperatures outside (we put out paintings outside)

Directions

1.       We the white piece of paper. You want the entire paper wet.

2.       Paint the wet piece of paper with liquid water colors. I recommend taking a picture of your work after this step. Observe how the paint diffuses outward as you paint.

3.       Place the piece of paper on a cookie sheet and place a piece of plastic over the painting.

4.       Place the painting outside or in the freezer.

5.       After 12-24 hours, remove the plastic wrap from the painting and observe the ice crystals. I recommend taking a picture now.

Miss Bubbles': painting a wet piece of paper

After freezing:

The ice up close:

After thawing:

Little BBQ's painting:

After freezing:

After thawing:

Posted on We Love to Paint

Crystal structures and catching CO2 with Sponge Candy

I really love science, and I love cooking, so it seems natural that I keep teaching Little BBQ lots of science in the kitchen. This time I took my Daring Bakers challenge which was candy this month and turned it into a science experiment for Little BBQ. Sponge candy is a very simple candy to make with lots of interesting science.

Basically sugar is heated to a high temperature where it turns into the “soft ball stage” then baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate [NaHCO3]) is quickly added to the hot sugar. The heat from the hot sugar causes the baking soda to release carbon dioxide bubbles. Then, the candy is quickly cooled and the carbon dioxide bubbles get trapped in the candy and the sugar does not have time to line up into ordered crystal structures. Another trick to sponge candy is that you add an interfering agent that contains high levels of fructose like corn syrup or honey. The interfering agent helps to prevent the sugar from lining up and making hard crystal structures that gives some candy a grainy texture.  Instead the sugar will look glassy and disorganized under a microscope.

For our little experiment we took microscope pictures of sugar as our control. Then, we made the sponge candy. We made sure that we had holes in our candy. Then, we placed the sponge candy back under the microscope to see if the sugar had enough time to make organized structures. It appears that we made our sponge candy properly because we found air pockets from the CO2 and glossy, disorganized sugar structures.

Little BBQ got so into this experiment and the science behind it that he wanted to know more, so I drew a picture of sugar at the molecular level. I let him color all the carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen atoms different colors, and we counted how many bonds each atom has connected to it to make general rules about hydrogen bonds, carbon bonds, and oxygen bonds. I am very proud of Little BBQ on this experiment. For the sponge candy recipe, please see my cooking blog post on sponge candy.

More microscope images of sponge candy:

Diffusion Experiment: Chinese Tea Eggs

Diffusion is when molecules travel from an area of high concentration to low concentration. Diffusion can be difficult for a child to visualize, but with Chinese tea eggs diffusion is easily visualized. For a recipe for Chinese Tea Eggs see my cooking blog here. The tea solution is a dark brown color while the egg is white. When diffusion occurs through the cracks of the egg, the egg turns brown. The tea solution is the area of high concentration while the white egg is an area of low concentration. The shell protects parts of the egg from diffusion leaving the egg white if no diffusion occurs (usually occurring if you let the egg simmer for less than an hour) or a little diffusion may occur causing the egg to turn light brown. Using this simple experiment you can allow your child to see diffusion. Plus, Chinese tea eggs taste good. You can experiment with different simmering times to see more and more diffusion occur as time goes on. We let our eggs simmer for 2 hours and the eggs got a little brown under the egg shell while the cracks got very brown.