KidZone Science
Skittles and Water Experiment

© Contributed by Kailey

Materials:

• skittles
• plate
• warm water

Instructions:

• Place skittles in whatever pattern you like around the edge of the plate.
• Pour your warm water in the middle of the plate.
• Make sure the water covers a little over half of each of the skittles.
• Sit back and watch the magic happen!

Why did this happen!?

• The colouring from the shell of the skittles DISSOLVED when it came into contact with the warm water.
• The colour DIFFUSES throughout the water and into the center of the plate.
• WATER STRATIFICATION also occurs during this experiment. WATER STRATIFICATION is when water displays different properties and creates layers that act as barriers preventing the colours from mixing together. Since each of the dye colours in the skittles has a different chemical make-up, water stratification occurs!
• Water stratification happens in nature -- for example when fresh water from a river enters the salty water of the ocean.
• Near our home in Alberta, we have a place where two rivers meet. One has bright blue minerals from glacier run off. The other has muddy brown dirt. Nearly every day of the year, we can see water stratification happening where these rivers meet!

The Amiskwi River meets the Kicking Horse River.
Photo by Leanne Guenther, used with permission