Left Over Christmas Candy Science Experiments - Part 1

I don't know about you, but we have an obscene amount of left over Christmas candy in the house, right now. The children are determined to do their best to eat it all, but I'm hoping to sidetrack at least some of their snacking schemes with a few fun filled, candy themed, science experiments.

I've been wanting to try exploding a chocolate covered marshmallow creation in the microwave, with the children, since seeing a similar demonstration, with left over Halloween candy, in a Science Sunday post from The Hmmm...schooling Mom.


After a quick review, for the younger children, of what happens to both chocolate chips, and marshmallows in the microwave (and why)...




...we were ready to move on to theorizing about what would happen to our chocolate covered Santas. Most of the children thought the melting chocolate would mix with the melting marshmallow as it expanded, and form a gooey brown mess.

When I pointed out to them, that the chocolate chips had held their form, even when melted, until touched, a few of the children decided that the expanding marshmallow might crack and burst through the chocolate layer.

Interestingly enough, the marshmallow did burst through the chocolate, ripping it apart down an even seam, and folding the chocolate back, as the marshmallow expanded...



...leaving all the chocolate melted underneath the gooey marshmallow remains...


...at which point, the children remembered their determination to eat all of their remaining Christmas candy, and decided to slip graham crackers under the last few Santas, before popping them into the microwave for 15 seconds, what they found to be the optimal melting time...


...for perfect, melted candy s'mores.



It's great to be a homeschooler.