ACES Activity of the Week: Color Symphony!

March was busy with several competitions! It was great to be back after two week hiatus. Color symphony activity proved to be an exciting way to engage 8 kids and 4 parents. Little milk, few drops of food color and a drop of liquid detergent...and explosion of colors !!!

Each kid was handed a paper plate with a lip, a glass of whole milk, green and blue food color and dawn liquid detergent.

Demo: I poured a little milk into the plate, randomly added green and blue food color drops and dipped a cotton swab in liquid detergent and placed the soapy end in middle of the plate of milk. The burst of colors was mesmerizing to watch. It was like fireworks in kitchen!

Each participant made their own color symphony! We talked about the science behind it - liquid soap breaks down the fat in the milk and causes the colors to scatter and mix creating a very colorful display!!

Do you want to try the experiment for yourself? Here is what you need: -

• A flat tray with a lip (like a baking tray or Styrofoam plate)

• Food coloring

• Whole milk

• Liquid dish soap

Directions:

• Carefully pour the milk into the tray so that it just covers the bottom

• Add about 6-8 drops of different colored food coloring onto the milk in different spots

• Add about 5 drops of dish soap onto the drops of food coloring and watch the show

Discussion Questions:

• What happened when the soap dropped onto the milk?

• The soap tried to break down all of the fat in the milk causing the colors to scatter and mix

• Based on what we see with the colors (that the soap breaks down the fat in the milk) why do we use it to wash our hands?