Experiment 1: Growing Gummy Bears

For this experiment, we are testing whether gummy bears grow or shrink when placed in water. First, we gathered all of our tools:

• a glass of water
• a bowl for holding the gummy bears overnight (preferably underwater)
• a ruler to measure the bears
• a pen for our lab notebook
• the gummy bears

Next, we measured the length and width of the gummy bears (all colors).

We recorded the length and width of the gummy bears in our notebook and drew the "before" outline of one of the bears. (Here, BB added his own personal touch, a smiley face, to the gummy bear.)

Next, we placed the gummy bears in the bowl.

Next, we poured water into the bowl to cover all of the gummy bears. We kept them in the water overnight and we wanted them to be fully covered with water because we "wanted them all soaked up". We had to give them about four cups of water to ensure they were fully covered.

Finally, Brendan made his prediction about the results: (A) The gummy bears will get BIGGER.

The next morning, our bears definitely looked different: they almost looked invisible. They also felt like "Jello", pretty fragile.

In fact, you can see part of the red guy had broken off on the paper towel we dried them on.

We then measured the gummy bears to see how big they were after a night of soaking.

They had grown to about 1 inch long and a little over half an inch wide. They had all changed about the same regardless of color.

Conclusion: If you put gummy bears in water, they will grow! (Especially if you keep them in the water overnight.) The reason they grew is because they soaked up the water from the bowl and this extra water "pushed them out" and that's how they got bigger!

*A more in-depth discussion about the reason for expansion can be found here.