Dye Detective

Concept: Samples of six unknown dyes placed on filter paper are identified by characteristic patterns that form when water traveling up the filter paper carries the components of the dyes with it.

Common Scents

Concepts: Visitors grind cloves in alcohol to extract the essential oil. Then they place drops of the extraction paper to make a scented paper.

Jelly Beads

Concepts: Dropping a seaweed extract (alginate) into a salt solution results in jelly-like spheres visitors can feel.

Natural Buffers

Concepts: Using a universal indicator, students compare the pH of plain water with the pH of a gelatin solution. Then they observe how each pH changes as they add equal amounts of an acid to each solution.

Natural Indicators

Concepts: Students test different plant solutions as indicators by combining them with vinegar (an acid), water (neutral), or ammonia (a base) and observing color changes.

Starch Breakdown

Concepts: With Benedict's solution, students test for the presence of simple sugars in glucose, sucrose, starch, and starch with added salivary amylase.