page
11

Jellies,
bacteria
and
clean
hands
page
12

Jellies for all tastes 1
st

part
page
13

Jellies for all tastes 2
nd

part
page
14

Jellies for all tastes 3
rd

part
page
15



Chemical
geyser
with
Mentos�
candies
page
16

Magic
baking
soda
page
17

Viscous
Honey
page
18

Shrinkable
potatoes
page
19

Foamy
meatballs
page
20

Elastic
egg
page
21

Credits
page
22

2
Name of the
experiment
Onions in brine
Subject/s
Biology, physical chemistry
Topic
Osmosis
Students age
10-16
Time required
1 hour unit
Difficulty

Equipments and
materials
Microscopy (preferably linked to video-camera and computer or TV set),
knife or cutter, tweezers, slides and cover slips, glasses (beakers), droppers
(Pasteur pipettes with rubber bulb), filter paper (or kitchen paper like
Scottex�).
Red onions (Tropea type), water, salt (NaCl).
Protocol
1) peel the onions epidermis (on the external red side of the leaves)
2) place a small epidermis piece on the slide, 3) add a drop of water with
the dropper or pipette
4) top the specimen with a cover slip
5) observe through the microscope beginning from the least magnification
and draw a picture of the observed specimen
6) prepare � of a beaker of NaCl saturated solution (dissolve some
spoonfuls of salt in water until a small amount remains undissolved at the
bottom)
7) add a drop of NaCl saturated solution on the edge of the cover glass
and place a piece of filter paper on the opposite edge so that the paper will
draw the solution across the specimen
8) wait for 5 minutes, then absorb the solution in excess with the filter
paper (on the opposite edge as written at point 7)
9) observe again through the microscope beginning from the least
magnification and draw a picture of the observed specimen
Didactical materials
Work-sheet with test questions
Website with pictures related to the proposed experiment:
http://www.microscopy-
uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-
uk.org.uk/mag/art97/maysnp2.html

Website with many micro-photographs of onions epidermis:
http://www.microscopy-
uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-
uk.org.uk/mag/artnov03/wdonion.html




3
Name of the
experiment
Waiter, there is a fly in my glass!
Subject/s Physical
chemistry
Topic
Water properties: surface tension, surfactants
Students age
10-16
Time required
1 hour unit
Difficulty

Equipments and
materials
One100 ml beaker, a fake fly (taken from a hook; safety advice: cut the tip
of the hook with the help of a pair of pincers before giving the fly to the
students), water, washing up liquid
Protocol
1) fill the beaker with water up to the rim
2) carefully place the fly on the water surface
3) observe the surface of the liquid around the fly (you can show some
pictures of insects walking on the water, e.g. the pond skater)
4) add to the water some drops of washing up liquid
5) observe again what happens (the fly sinks) and add your comments,
explaining the action of surfactants
6) you can repeat the experience using a small thin coin, for instance 1
cent)
Didactical materials
Lab sheet, pictures and videos
Website with interactive animation:
http://citt.ufl.edu/Marcela/Sepulveda/media/en_tension.swf















4

Name of the
experiment
Chromatography with Smarties� candies
Subject/s Chemistry
Topic
Chromatography was born as a separation technique and was later
implemented as an analytical method. It is based on the fact that the various
components of a mixture tend to distribute among two phases in a different
way, depending on the affinity with each one of them.
The invention of chromatography was ascribed to the Russian biochemist
Mikhail Cvet (to be pronounced Tswett) in 1906 when he was able to
separate chlorophyll from a plant extract by means of this technique.
While one phase - generally a solid or a gel - stays still ( the stationary
phase), another phase (the mobile phase), which is liquid or gaseous,
flows through it dragging along at higher rate the components of the
mixture that are more similar to it.
Students age
10-16 anni
Time required
1 hour unit
Difficulty

Equipments and
materials
A small bowl or a soup plate, a 100 ml graduated cylinder, a dropper (or
Pasteur pipette with rubber bulb), a strip of filter paper 5 cm wide and 2-3
cm higher than the cylinder, Smarties� candies, water
Protocol
1) put 10 red Smarties , 10 green ones and 10 blue ones in the small bowl
or soup plate
2) add a small amount of water in order to dissolve the candy pigments
without diluting them excessively and soak for a few minutes mixing from
time to time until the water is intensely dyed
3) using a dropper make a dark spot at a distance of 4 cm from the end of
the paper strip
4) wait until the spot dries
5) pour some water ( a 2 cm layer) into the cylinder
6) insert the paper strip into the cylinder: the dye spot has to be a bit higher
than the water level and turn the opposite end around the rim of the
cylinder
7) observe the ascent and separation of the pigments
Didactical materials
Lab sheet
Website with interactive animation:
http://www.sambal.co.uk/chromatography.html






5
Name of the
experiment
Chromatography with spinach
Subject/s Chemistry

Topic
Separation of leaf pigments
Students age
12-18
Time required
2 hour units
Difficulty

Equipments and
materials
Leaf spinach, scissors, one 200 ml beaker, a hotplate (or Bunsen burner +
trivet and wire gauze), mortar and pestle, a dropper, a large test tube or
a100 ml graduated cylinder, aluminium foil, acetone (nail polish remover),
solvent mix (92% petroleum ether, 8% acetone), a filter paper strip wide
enough to fit the test tube (or cylinder) and 2 cm longer than it.
Protocol
1) put some spinach into the beaker with boiling water and wait for 5
minutes
2) switch off the hotplate or burner
3) remove the spinach and get them dry
4) grind the spinach in the mortar adding 2ml acetone until a dark green
(very dark!) liquid is obtained
(WARNING! Work in a ventilated room. Make sure that the hot plate or
burner is off and operate far from it when using acetone or solvent!)
5) using a dropper make a dark spot at a distance of 4 cm from one end of
the paper strip
6) repeat point 5) until a very dark spot is obtained (pigment charge)
7) pour a 2 cm layer of solvent mixture into the large test tube or cylinder
8) insert the paper strip into test tube/cylinder: the spot has to be a bit
higher than the solvent level; turn the upper end of the strip around the rim
of the test tube/cylinder and cover it with a piece of aluminium foil
9) wait until the solvent has nearly reached the rim of the test tube/cylinder
10) observe the ascent and separation of the pigments
11) add some comments on the chemical composition and role of the
pigments in photosynthesis
Didactical materials
Biology textbook, lab sheet,
Animations on photosynthesis on the websites:
http://www.web.virginia.edu/gg_demo/movies/figure18_12b.html

http://www.fw.vt.edu/dendro/forestbiology/photosynthesis.swf


6
Name of the
experiment
Alcoholic fermentation 1st part
Subject/s Biochemistry

Topic
Metabolism, CO
2
gas production
Students age
13-16
Time required
1 hour unit + 15 minutes
Difficulty

Equipments and
materials
2 g bakers yeast, 28 g sugar (sucrose), water, 0.2 g sodium mono-hydrogen
phosphate (optional), barium hydroxide, two 200 ml beakers, a filtering
flask (with side arm), a rubber stopper, rubber tubing fitting the arm of
the flask, a Pasteur pipette without bulb.
Protocol
1) dissolve the bakers yeast in 200 ml of lukewarm water (about 45�C)
into a beaker, add the sugar and sodium mono-hydrogen phosphate
(optional)
2) prepare a saturated barium hydroxide solution (gradually dissolve
barium hydroxide in water until a small amount remains undissolved at the
bottom, then pour the solution into a beaker)
3) pour the mixture into the flask, cork it and connect the tail with the
tubing
4) insert the pipette into the opposite end of the tubing and immerse the tip
of the pipette into the beaker containing barium hydroxide solution
5) wait (from 3 hours up to 1 day according to your teaching schedule) until
a white precipitate (barium carbonate BaCO
3
) is visible at the bottom of the
beaker: this is the sign of CO
2
production
6) add some comments explaining the chemical reaction involved in the
experiment
Didactical materials
Lab sheet with questions
Website with audio/video animation for older students:
http://trc.ucdavis.edu/biosci10v/bis10v/media/ch06/fermentation.html





7
Name of the
experiment
Alcoholic fermentation 1st part simplified
Subject/s Biochemistry

Topic
Metabolism, CO
2
gas production
Students age
10-16
Time required
� hour + 15 minutes
Difficulty

Equipments and
materials
10 g bakers yeast, 50 g sugar (sucrose), water, a beaker, a glass bottle, a
balloon, a rubber band (office type)
Protocol
1) dissolve the bakers yeast in 200 ml of lukewarm water