Science Smarts: Sharing some sweet science for those special someones

By Patty Rooks on February 8, 2025.

I have been so busy with our 50th annual Science Fair preparations and visiting all of the young scientists in the classroom lately that I ALMOST forgot about the upcoming “holiday” this week! In case you are as forgetful as I am, here is a sweet treat to whip up and share with all those who are important in your life this Valentine’s Day. Do not wait though, this may take a couple of days in order to produce the absolute best and most delicious results. Let’s get started!

*Remember to ask an adult before doing this experiment.

Materials

• Scissors

• Medium saucepan

• Measuring cups

• Package of red (cherry or strawberry) unsweetened drink mix POWDER

• White or granulated sugar

• Water

• Wooden spoon

• Wooden skewers

• Empty glass jar with a lid

• Nail

• Spray bottle

• Stove

• Science helper

Procedure

1. Note: An adult must help you with this experiment as you are using the stove.

2. Using a nail, poke several holes randomly in the lid of the jar. Take the time to measure and ensure the holes are big enough to push the wooden skewers through it. Note; if the skewers are too long, have an adult help you trim them up carefully using scissors.

3. The wooden skewer should not rest on the bottom of the jar once you put the lid on.

4. Leave the skewers in the lid, remove from the jar.

5. Lightly spritz the skewers with water and sprinkle them with a little bit of sure. This is very important as you are creating a seed.

6. Measure 250 mL (one cup) of water. Pour into the saucepan.

7. Measure 750 mL (three cups) of sugar and add to water.

8. Stir in the powdered sugar free drink mix.

9. Using a wooden spoon carefully stir everything well.

10. Have an adult help you put the mixture on the stove over medium heat. Stir the mixture constantly. You may notice that not all of the sugar has dissolved. This is just fine, as you have made a supersaturated solution. Do not worry!

11. Once the mixture boils, remove it from the heat. Be careful it is like molten lava do not burn yourself.

12. Once the mixture has cooled, have an adult pour some of the mixture into the glass jar – about half full.

13. Take the lid with the skewer and place it gently in the jar.

14. Do not tighten the lid; just let it sit loosely on the mouth of the jar.

15. Observe your skewer every day to see what is happening.

16. In a couple of days you will be amazed!

17. Enjoy once you have enough sugar crystals on the skewer. The longer you wait, the more delicious crystals there will be!

18. Share with all of your Valentines!

What is going on?

You probably have seen these in the stores as they look like little suckers with little rocks on them. They are delicious and who knew it involved science?

In this experiment, you made sugar crystals! You started out by creating a super saturated solution of sugar and water. No matter how hard you tried, you could not get any more sugar to dissolve into the water.

As the water evaporates, the solution becomes more and more saturated with sugar molecules. These sugar molecules need somewhere to grow so this is why it was important that you had some sugar on your skewer before you put it into the solution.

These seed crystals allowed the sugar molecules somewhere to grab onto and start growing. The rock candy crystals will continue to grow molecule by molecule.

Patty Rooks, senior scientific consultant PRAXIS, “Connecting Science To The Community.” Contact Praxis at praxis@praxismh.ca, http://www.praxismh.ca, Tweet or follow us @PraxisMedHat, or friend us on Facebook. Address: 12 826 11th Street SE, Medicine Hat, AB, T1A 1T7 Phone: 403-527-5365, email: praxis@praxismh.ca.

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