Osmosis and it's effect on cells as seen through gummy bears

For my science inquiry lesson I determined to tackle the subject of Osmosis and have the students see it as a presence rather than an abstract thought as viewed through their texts. We started off by discussing how a lack of water presents issues not just for people but for environments as well. Then I handed out dehydrated fruit in the class and had them tell me what their thoughts were on the fruit as far as how it had attained the current state from how they commonly see it (I used peaches). Once they were intrigued by the process the fruit had undergone, I brought up the subject of the military's use of MRE's and this caused some intrigue in a class of only boys. 

To tie it in to what we were doing that day I told them that our cells in our bodies act much like the fruit in that if there is a lack of water within the cell then the cell will shrink and wither away, but that there is also the opposite effect whereby when there is too much water then the cell becomes too saturated and explodes. At the thought of a cell exploding the students became excited and wanted to jump right in so I got them started on setting up their experiments and wrote all the instructions on the board while I walked around to each section and repeated the instructions as well. The experiment was set up with four gummy worms to each set (we had one single student due to an absence) and each gummy was placed in saline solution, plain water, fruit punch and lemon juice respectively (please note that the order of the gummies and their solutions go counter clockwise in the pictures. The student forgot to label his containers though he knew which was which). They were left alone for 24 hours and then the liquid that was left was drained and the gummies were inspected and measured for changes. Some of the students found that their hypotheses were not proven and two found that they were way off on their hypotheses (they had hypothesized that the gummies would not be affected as they did not feel permeable). Students had to record their findings on a graphic organizer prepared for them and then discuss their findings/queries in class as a whole group.

What the students all found was that there was a significant difference in how the gummies reacted to the saline solution and the other liquids. Alas none of them was able to create the desired effect of having the gummy bear in the saline solution shrink beacause they added more water than they should have to the solution mix. However, they all realized just what the input of salt did to the cell/bear and what excess water did as well, which was the objective of the lesson.

Attached you will find a copy of one of the student's work. Alas only one student was willing to have his work shared with others hence only one student sample has been attached.

Original pic when bears were just placed in liquids

 

 Gummies after a few hours in liquids..note fruit punch bottom right losing its color.

Gummies after 24 hours.

Gummies after being manipulated by student to check measurments.