Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Sweetness? - Activity

Materials List: Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Sweetness?

aluminum foil, a few sheets (or small plastic weighing boats, if available)
permanent markers, a few
packaged bubble gum, one piece of gum per student (such as Bubble Yum or Bubblicious brands, use only one brand and flavor of gum for the entire class, those containing sugar work best for the initial experiment)
triple-beam balances, several, accurate to 0.1 g (or electronic balances)
cafeteria tray or box, to contain the drying gum for a few days
additional gum for the second set of student-devised experiments (amount and types depend on what students choose to investigate)