2026 Summer Camp · Week 5 Day 5

The Purple Water That Tells the Truth 🧪
양배추 물의 비밀

JC After School · Coquitlam, BC · July 31, 2026 (Fri)

Science Day 🔬

This is purple water made from soaking purple (“red”) cabbage in water. We used it for a science experiment today. On its own it looks like nothing more than a jug of coloured water — but this particular purple has a job to do. 💜

A student holding up a glass jug filled with deep purple water and shredded red cabbage — Purple cabbage water — today’s star ingredient 💜

The purple liquid from the cabbage is of a neutral pH, and it is able to react with any liquid substance and cause a change in colour according to the acidity of that liquid. Drop a little into something acidic and it turns red. Drop it into something alkaline and it turns blue, then green. The liquid tells on itself. 🧐

🧪 The pH scale

ACIDpH 0 – 6

NEUTRALpH 7

BASEpH 8 – 14

pH is a scale that measures how acidic or base a liquid is, running from 0 to 14, with 7 being neutral — the pH of pure water, H₂O. (pH stands for the hydrogen-releasing potential of a liquid.)

A whiteboard headed Friday July 31 2026 listing the day's plan and explaining that pH is a scale from 0 to 14 with 7 being neutral — The whole day, and the whole scale, on one board 📋

🫙 Setting Up the Lab Jars, bottles and a colour chart

A row of clean glass jars, a table of liquids to test, and a printed indicator chart to compare against — pale pink at the acidic end, through purple in the middle, to blue, green and yellow at the alkaline end. Everything ready before a single drop was poured. 🧫

A table set up with empty glass jars, bottles of household liquids and a printed pH scale chart — Jars empty, bottles lined up 🫙

A printed liquid pH indicator chart for red cabbage leaf showing the colour range from pink through purple to blue green and yellow — The red-cabbage indicator chart 🌈

And every scientist needs a record sheet. Theirs had three columns: the chemical liquid solution · the colour it turned when mixed with cabbage water · the approximate pH, with a box to tick for acid or base. 📝

A blank Colour-Changing Experiment recording sheet with columns for chemical liquid solution, colour when mixed with cabbage water, and approximate pH — The recording sheet, waiting to be filled 📄

🌈 Pour, Watch, Record One liquid at a time

Then the work began. A little cabbage water into each jar, a careful look, a comparison against the chart, and a number written down. Milk barely moved off neutral. Lemon juice shot straight to the acid end. Coffee, vinegar, perfume — each one gave itself away. 🔍

Two young students holding a jar of purple cabbage water together and smiling at the camera — Carrying the purple water carefully 💜

A student carefully pouring purple cabbage water from a jar into a glass on the table — A steady pour 🫗

A student standing at the table adding liquid to a jar during the experiment — Next jar, next liquid 🧪

Two young students filling in their colour-changing experiment sheets with pencils — Writing the results down ✍️

Four students working side by side along the table, each filling in their own experiment sheet — The whole table, working through the list 📊

And the finished sheets tell the story better than we can. Milk ≈ 6 · Lemon 2 · Coffee 5 · Vinegar 3 · Perfume 5–6 — all reds and pinks, all acids. Then over on the other sheet: baking soda, dish soap, laundry soap, glass cleaner, floor cleaner — every single one drawn in blue. 🔵

Two completed experiment sheets showing milk, lemon, coffee, vinegar and perfume drawn in red, and baking soda, dish soap, laundry soap and floor cleaner drawn in blue, with students high-fiving above them — Reds on the left, blues on the right — and a high five 🙌

🍋 The Moment of the Day Lemon juice goes bright red

Here it is: pure lemon juice, being acidic, changed to bright red the moment a little purple cabbage water was added. 😮😀🧐

A close-up looking down into a glass where lemon juice mixed with cabbage water has turned a vivid bright red — Purple in, bright red out — pure lemon juice 🍋

At the other end of the scale, the cleaners went the opposite way entirely — straight past blue toward green, and the most extreme ones further still, into a bright orange-yellow. Same purple water, opposite answer. 🔵

A jar of liquid turned bright blue beside a bottle of glass cleaner — Glass cleaner — all the way to blue 🧴

Two older students carefully handling a bottle over a jar during the experiment — The older students taking the stronger ones 🧑‍🔬

⚠️ Safety first, always

The younger children only handled safe products — coffee, milk, lemon juice, perfume, purple cabbage and baking soda.
Only the older students handled the dish soap and the glass and floor cleaner — and without actually touching any of it.
Anything corrosive was handled strictly by the teacher, kept in sealed jars far away from the students. The more extreme alkaline products were kept away from the children entirely.

The conclusion, reached by the little scientists and the middle school science experts alike: liquids can be acidic, neutral, or alkaline (base). Depending on their pH, they will turn either red or blue — and reveal their acidity level by the colour they change to, regardless of their original colour. 💡

Students gathered around the classroom table during the experiment, markers and sheets everywhere — Everyone in on it 👀

A young student grinning at the camera with the jars of coloured liquid lined up on the table behind her — Very pleased with the results 😄

Two young students standing at either end of the table full of jars, both smiling at the camera — Junior scientists, signing off 🔬

A soft white bunny toy holding a carrot sitting on the classroom table beside a football plushie — On standby for a hug whenever it’s needed 🐰

✍️ Cursive, For Everyone And a signature to keep

Today, everyone, young and old, had a chance to practise cursive writing — so they can be aware of this style, be able to read and write it if they choose, and one day have a nicely developed signature of their own. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog, then the alphabet, then the best part: write your name and make a signature. ✒️

Two young students holding up their completed cursive writing practice sheets, each with their own signature decorated in colour — Signatures, made official ✍️

A large sheet of paper with the day's dictation about pH written out by hand — Dictation — writing what they heard 📖

✏️

Handwriting is having a big come-back among educators, taught from as early as grade 1. It is worth the practice — and the children were glad of it today.

🍜 Lunch & Afternoon Noodles, then out we go

Lunch was a big pan of noodles with vegetables, and then the afternoon belonged to the indoor playground — climbing nets, loops to hang from, and a quiet pod to hide in when it all got a bit much. 🛝

A large pan of noodles with vegetables and tongs resting in it — Noodles, straight from the pan 🍜

Children climbing a black rope net over green turf at the indoor playground — Up the climbing net 🧗

Children running and reaching up to the white loops of the indoor play structure — Reaching for the loops 🙌

Three children sitting together inside a small green and blue play pod with foam blocks — A quiet corner of their own 💚

🎆

Tonight: the Summer Lights fireworks show at English Bay — 10pm. A good way to end the week if you are heading out!

🎓

Save the date — August 28. On the final day of JC Summer Camp we are planning a summer party and graduation: an all-day celebration field trip to the teacher’s home in Port Coquitlam. We did the same last summer, and it was truly wonderful. More details to follow.

💬 A message from teacher

The little scientists today, as well as the middle school science experts, discovered that liquid things can be acidic, neutral, or alkaline. Safety is always first. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!! ❤️

Ask them this weekend which liquid in your kitchen they would test first. They will have an answer — and probably a pH guess to go with it. Have a wonderful weekend! 💜

Phone: 778-258-2223
Instagram: @jc_afterschool
Location: #130 – 1140 Austin Ave, Coquitlam, BC

Call us — 778-258-2223 ← See Week 5 Day 4

These photos capture moments from our Week 5 Day 5 lesson. For the most accurate information, please reach us by phone (778-258-2223) or on Instagram.