Osmosis With Gummy Worms

What better way to learn about osmosis than with gummy worms?

Each student worked with a partner, observing and recording data about their gummy worm. 

We measured them, traced them and drew pictures of them. Then, we soaked them in a bowl of water overnight.

The next day, we were so surprised to see how much our gummy worms had grown! They were huge!

We measured them again and they had doubled in size!

Why did this happen? Water molecules always move from an area where there is a lot of water molecules to an area where there are fewer molecules. In this experiment, the water in the bowl of water wanted to move inside the gummy worm because there isn't that much water in a gelatin based candy. The movement of water molecules into the gummy worm results in its increase in size. This process is called osmosis!