Making tea experiment

Why do we make tea with hot water? This experiment is intended for pre-k students and is appropriate for ages of 4-10.

Tea made in cold water and hot water

Materials

• 
  Two glass cups
• 
  Hot and cold water
• 
  Two tea bags
• 
  Stopwatch (optional)
• 
  Printable worksheet (optional)

Experiment

Get two clear glasses of the same size. Drop an tea bag in each glass. Optional: Start a timer.

Fill one glass up with cold water. Fill the second one up with hot or boiling water.

Watch the tea steep. Observe the early colour of the cold tea. You may want to also use a glass of water with no tea bag to compare the colour.

Form a hypothesis

Will the tea steep faster in hot water or cold water? Older children may wish to write down their answer in the printable worksheet provided in the materials section.

Results

Did the tea steep faster in hot our cold water? Was your hypothesis correct?