Sunday, July 1, 2012

Coffee Filter Chromatography - Sun-Catcher Follow-up


If our post yesterday inspired you to make a foam plate and coffee filter sun-catcher today...


...then let me encourage you not to miss out on the opportunity for some quick chromatographic fun with the left overs.

Let children mix the bowls of watered down food coloring together - red and yellow make orange, orange and blue and green make brown, and drops of brown food coloring on a coffee filter...


...make rainbows of color as the blue rushes out first, followed by the yellow (with a slight blending into green between them) and then the red (again with a hint of orange at the edges).   The colors separate almost instantly, making it an ideal art/science experience for younger children, and a fantastic boredom buster, I might add.  Like baking soda and vinegar eruptions, coffee filter chromatography never seems to get old.


It's great to be a homeschooler.

Linked with Science Sunday at Adventure's in Mommydom.

3 comments:

Phyllis said...

For some reason this has always fascinated me more than my kids. I think so much science so early has made it all ho-hum for them! LOL I still like to play, though!

Ticia said...

I'm with Phyllis, I always sit there for a longer time making these than my kids do. Oh to be 5 again and it be perfectly acceptable for me to sit around doing that all day long.....

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

Ticia and Phyllis - C really really enjoyed this activitiy this time - but I think as more of an art activity, than science. She really likes to play with color. Luckily, I had accidently bought the wrong size coffee filters for our coffee maker, so I had a whole package to use - plenty for me to join in with her :)