Secret Message Writer
Autopause
Materials
2 Sheets of Top Secret Paper
1 Large Tube of Baking Soda
1 Fillable Marker
1 Small Plastic Cup
Tube of Freeze-dried Blackberries
1 Empty Tea Bag
1 Large Plastic Cup
1 Plastic Spoon
1 Packaged Bag of Tea
1 Packet of Dried Lemon Juice
Instructions
STEP 1
Reach into your kit & pull out the bag that says Experiment 13. Place everything around the white mat and put the bag back in your box.
STEP 2
Place one of the sheets of paper labeled Top Secret on your white mat in front of you.
STEP 3
Next, fill the tube of baking soda with warm water, put the cap back on and shake for 10 seconds.
STEP 4
Untwist the cap of the marker and pour in the warm water mix, then put the cap back on the marker.
STEP 5
Now uncap the marker and press the tip down onto your white mat to get the liquid flowing.
STEP 6
Once the liquid is flowing, go ahead and write a secret message. For best results, try to keep your message between 2 and 4 words. When you’re done, move it aside to let it dry.
STEP 7
Next, grab the second sheet of Top Secret paper and write another secret message. When you’re done move it to the side, and let them both dry for 20 minutes.
STEP 8
After 20 minutes, go ahead and check to see if the paper is dry. If it’s still a little wet, let it sit for another 5-10 minutes.
STEP 9
Place one of your sheets of paper on your white mat. Then grab the tube of freeze-dried blackberries, take out three and put them into the empty tea bag. Pull on the string to close it.
STEP 10
Using your fingers, crush the blackberries that are inside the tea bag. It should start to turn into a powder. When you’re done, place the tea bag to the side.
STEP 11
Next, grab your empty plastic cup and fill it up halfway with room-temperature water.
STEP 12
Dip the tea bag into the cup of water 5 times. Then give it a little squeeze so it’s not dripping and wipe it across your paper to reveal your secret message.
STEP 13
Now, repeat the steps again to reveal your second secret message. You can dip the tea bag into the water if it starts to dry up.
STEP 14
Next, open the package with the butterfly-pea tea bag, place it into the tall empty cup, and fill the cup about 2/3 of the way up with warm water.
STEP 15
Dip the tea bag into the water over and over for about 15 seconds or until you like the shade of blue your water turns. Then place the tea bag off to the side.
STEP 16
Open the packet of dried lemon juice and pour it into the cup of blue tea. It will start to change colors. Use your spoon to stir the tea and watch the color completely change from blue to pink.
How It Works
In this experiment, we used blackberries which have a special pigment in them that gives them a dark purple color. That pigment is called Anthocyanin. This same pigment is also found in blueberries and red cabbage. Anthocyanin can change colors when put into liquids that are sour or bitter.
We mixed baking soda and water to write our message, and when the water evaporated all that was left was the baking soda crystals which are white and that's why you could not see the message. When we rubbed the blackberries into the paper they changed colors when it made contact with the baking soda crystals and only changed colors where we wrote our message. The butterfly-pea tea also changed colors but because we used an acidic ingredient like the dried lemon juice, the color change was different.
We mixed baking soda and water to write our message, and when the water evaporated all that was left was the baking soda crystals which are white and that's why you could not see the message. When we rubbed the blackberries into the paper they changed colors when it made contact with the baking soda crystals and only changed colors where we wrote our message. The butterfly-pea tea also changed colors but because we used an acidic ingredient like the dried lemon juice, the color change was different.
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