Lab Design Sheet: Gummy Bears in Soda

Question to be answered:      

If we put one gummy bear in coke and one in ginger ale, will the coke have a different affect on the gummy bears than the ginger ale?                                

Prior Knowledge:

The acid in coke eats away at  particles

Hypothesis:Prediction (If …we do X…then…Y will happen…)

If we put on gummy bear in coke and one in ginger ale, then the one in coke will deteriorate faster than the one in ginger ale

Hypothesis:Rationale (…because…)

Because of the acid in coke

Independent (Manipulated) variable/cause (what will you determine?):

Sodas

Dependent (Responding) variable / effect (what will you find out?):

Gummy Bears

Constants (what will you keep the same?):

Time, Cups, Gummy Bears

Equipment:

Cups, Coca-cola, Ginger Ale, Gummy Bears, Sharpie

Procedure:

1) Label both cups with the types of soda

2) Pour coke in one cup and ginger ale in the other (same amount in both)

3) Put one red gummy in each cup

4) Wait 4 days

5) Pour out soda and examine gummy bears

ANALYSIS: (Summarize what happened; staple graphs, etc. to this sheet)

  When we drained the soda out of the cups we found that both gummy bears had increased in size. But the one that was in coke, was originally red, was black and starting to deteriorate on the outside. The one that was in the ginger ale was slightly bigger in size and a slight peachy color on the outside while the middle was still red.

CONCLUSION: (What is the scientific explanation for these results?  Use relevant vocabulary terms.)

Our original question was “will coke deteriorate a gummy bear faster than ginger ale?” We then changed it around a bit to see if the different sodas would affect the gummy bears differently. Our hypothesis was If we put one gummy bear in coke and one in ginger ale, then the one in coke will deteriorate while the one in ginger ale enlarges. After the experiment we found that both gummy bears had increased in size, but the coke had turned the gummy bear black and started to deteriorate it. We believe this happened due to the fact that there is a certain acid used in coke that eats away other things such as rust, and even our insides if drinken alot. So in conclusion our hypothesis was correct, coke does eat away at a gummy bear faster than ginger ale.