Osmosis

Osmosis is the movement of water in and out of cells.
Every living thing is made up of cells and needs water to survive.

We are conducting some experiments to demonstrate how osmosis occurs.
What do you think will happen our celery which are sitting in cups of water mixed with food colouring?
Check back in a few days to see if you predicted the outcome correctly!

If you want to try an osmosis experiment at home, leave a Gummy Bear or Jelly Baby in a glass of water overnight.
Measure how big it is before and after, so you have
proof!
(and the good news is, you can still eat it afterwards :)
Let us know how you get on......
A few days later, this is what our celery looks like:

Osmosis has occured.
Water has passed from the cup into the celery, carrying the food colouring with it.


We tried a second experiment to see how to draw water out of cells.
We cut a potato in half, scooped out a hollow in the centre, and we poured salt into one half.
The salt caused the water naturally in the potato to pool in the hollow:

Here's another experiment to try at home.

Remember to ask permission before you raid the cupboards, and tidy up after yourself!

Have fun :)