Valentine’s Candy Hearts Science Activity {FREE}

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, you may be wondering how to incorporate science into your day of card swapping and candy eating. Luckily, we have found that those little conversational candy hearts that pop up at every store this time of year, can be used for some serious educational fun! Not only are they inexpensive, but they are the perfect way to teach about density and acidity. You will have no problem getting your little scientists excited about a Valentine’s candy hearts science lesson when they see how the candy floats and dissolves in liquid. The preparation and set up of this experiment is very easy and we have included all the printouts and scientific explanations you will need in our download. This makes the perfect hands-on investigation to do even in the midst of Valentine’s Day celebrations.

Getting Started with Candy Hearts Science

This activity can be implemented in the classroom or at home with the following easy to find materials:

• (3) clear cups
• conversation candy hearts
• marker
• water
• soda (clear soft drink or club soda)
• vinegar
• printables provided in our download

Valentine’s Day Scientific Exploration

To begin this Valentine’s candy hearts science lesson, you will need to fill up each cup with one of the following: water, soda and vinegar. Then using a marker, label the cups so that students can easily identify which liquid is in each cup. This step is very important because since all the liquids are clear, it can get confusing to try and remember which liquid is in the cup if they are not labeled properly. Now, before the experiment actually begins, you will want your students to make their predictions about what they THINK will happen to the candy hearts when dropped in the different liquids. Will they sink or float? Will they change shape or appearance in any way? You can discuss these questions together while they fill out their guesses on the “Predictions” printable we have included for you.

After the students have made their predictions, the real fun begins! They should now drop the same amount of candy hearts into each liquid. Students will begin to notice some differences right away but for best results, have them wait to record their observations after at least 15-20 minutes. We have provided you with a choice of two differentiated observation sheets (one is to record their observations with drawings/pictures, while the other has space to write their observations). You can then end the lesson with a discussion on why the candy hearts had different reactions to the various liquids.

Behind the Science with Candy Hearts

So, why did some of the candy hearts float while others sank to the bottom? This all has to do with density and air! When an object is more dense than the liquid, it sinks. Also, the amount of air found inside the candy or liquid will determine if it floats to the top or sinks to the bottom. The more air, the bigger the possibility the candy has of floating. Since soda has air bubbles, you will notice some or all of the candy floating to the top!

When it comes to why some of the candy started changing appearance and/or dissolving, it all has to do with the type of liquid and how acidic it is. Vinegar and soft drinks are best at dissolving the candy hearts because they are acidic liquids. The clear soda we used (Sprite) contains citric acid and the vinegar also contains acid. In our observations, they both dissolved the candy faster than water. Liquids that contain acid can cause certain materials to break down over time. Water is a very neutral liquid that didn’t cause many changes in our 15-20 minute observation time period.

Extending the Activity

If you have extra time, you can have students observe what happens to the candy hearts over longer periods of time. We noticed that after about an hour, even some of the candy hearts in water began floating to the top and also started dissolving. This began to change the color of the water as well. Your little scientist may also want to take this a step further and see if the type of water makes a difference. They can compare tap water vs. bottled (purified) water, hot vs. cold water, and even see what happens in different liquids such as oil. Science experiments often leave us asking more questions. Tap into this curiosity, encourage more questions and explore even more!

Are you ready to get started with some candy heart fun? Download your copy of our Valentine’s Science activity by clicking on the button below. Enjoy!

If you are looking for more Valentine’s Day math, science & literacy activities, check out our celebration activities for K-1 & 1-2.