STEM Explore is a series of Science Exploration and Innovation class that will be held throughout the school year for grades 5 to 9. The goal is to encourage science and engineering exploration as well as to build up a science community at TLA, and perhaps enter a Science competition in the future.
Have you ever wondered what makes candies like Skittles and M&Ms so bright and colorful? At first glance, it looks like each candy has just one color, but many candies are actually made from a mixture of different dyes. These dyes are pigments — molecules that give things their color — and scientists can separate them to see exactly what colors are inside.
In this lab, you will become a color detective and use chromatography, a scientific method that separates mixtures, to reveal the hidden colors in candies. Chromatography works because different pigments move at different speeds when they are carried along by a liquid, depending on how strongly they stick to the paper and how easily they dissolve in the liquid. By observing the movement of the pigments, you can see which colors are made up of more than one pigment and compare how fast each pigment travels.
This activity is not only fun and colorful, but it also teaches you about mixtures, molecules, and scientific observation. Scientists use similar techniques in real life to test water quality, analyze food dyes, study plant pigments, and even solve crimes! By the end of this lab, you’ll understand that the world of color is more complex than it first appears, and you’ll get to watch it come alive on paper.
THURSDAY, December 4, 2025 from 10am to 11:30am
Recommended for Grades 5 – 9
Cost: $10 per student
Sign-up deadline: Friday, November 28, 2025
