Color Changing Milk
Color Changing Milk
Topic: Science Careers
Empowerment Lesson Video: Science Careers
Supplies:
- Bowl or shallow plate, one per student
- Milk
- Food coloring in a variety of colors
- Q-tips
- Dish soap
Video Discussion:
Direct students to work with a partner to list as many different science-based careers as they can.
After a few minutes of discussion, bring the class back together and ask students to share their ideas.
Guide students to understand that there are a large number of science-based careers, including many that may be unfamiliar to them.
Tell students they will be watching the video Science Careers. Explain that the video presents role models talking about why a career in science can be very desirable and fulfilling.
Use some or all of the following questions to discuss the video content:
- What do you think the first scientist in the video meant when she said that “science is knowledge”?
- What science careers did you learn about in the video?
- Which science careers sound the most interesting to you? Why?
- What are some ways you could change your community by working in the sciences?
Activity Instructions:
In this activity, students will explore the fascinating world of chemistry by creating colorful patterns in milk using dish soap and food dye.
Science is everywhere, even in things as simple as milk and soap! Today, you’ll create swirling, color-changing patterns in milk and learn how science makes this happen.
- Gather the supplies you need for this experiment including a bowl or plate, milk, q-tips, food dye, and dish soap.
- Pour enough milk in your bowl to cover the bottom.
- Select a few different colors of food coloring. Add several drops into the milk, keeping each drop spaced far apart from other drops.
- Put a bit of dish soap onto the q-tip.
- Dip the q-tip into a drop of food coloring. Hold it in place for 10-15 seconds. Notice what happens to the milk and food coloring.
This experiment works because of the interaction between dish soap and the fat in milk. The dish soap breaks the milk’s surface tension. Milk has fat, water, and proteins, and the soap pushes the fat molecules around. This movement makes the food coloring swirl, creating colorful patterns and showing how the molecules interact!
