Osmosis and Gummy Bear Lab
Background
Define the following terms;
Passive Transport
Osmosis
Diffusion
Hypotonic
Active Transport
Selectively Permeable
Isotonic
Hypertonic
Purpose
In this investigation you will use a gummy bear to determine what happens in osmosis. You will
be measuring the amount of water that passes through the membrane of the gummy bear.
Question
What is the effect of water on objects, using gummy bears.
Hypothesis
Create your own in if, then, because format.
Materials
 2 gummy bears
 2 Small white pieces of paper
 2 beakers
 Ruler
 Electronic scale
 Lab bin
Procedure
Day 1
1. Write on the white pieces of paper all the group members names.
2. Place each beaker on top of the white piece of paper.
3. Create a data table with your group, it must contain height, weight, length, drawing
space and space to write observations.
4. Fill in your data table with the height, length and weight of your gummy bear.
5. Record descriptive observations about the gummy bear and a drawing.
6. Put both gummy bears in their own beaker with water covering the bear and set the
beaker inside the lab bin.
Day 2
7. Gently take the gummy bear out of the water and pat it dry. Be very careful because the
candy is now extremely breakable.
8. Fill in your data table with the height, width, mass, and descriptive observations.
Data
This section needs to include a data table and graph. Use the calculations below to create your
graph from.
Calculate the following percent changes in the size of the candy and record in your notebook:
% change in height
% change in width
% change in mass
**Percent change = (After soaking measurement - Before soaking measurement/ Before
soaking measurement) x 100
**Make sure to label your answer with correct units
Analyze and Conclude
Here are some questions to help you with this section, be sure to write in paragraph form and
in complete sentences. You can add more information if needed.
1. What happened to the candy after soaking in water overnight?
2. Why did you get these results?
3. Was your hypothesis proven right or wrong.
Your Turn
What do you think would happen to the candy if you let it soak in a different solution? Design
your own lab experiment with your team. You need to include all the steps of the scientific
method. You will design your experiment today and then implement your experiment next
class.
Use the following questions to help analyze your findings from your experiment;
1. Why do you think it reacted the way it did?
2. What other solutions might be interesting to try putting a gummy bear in? Why?
3. Was your hypothesis proven right or wrong?