Cut coffee filters into strips. You can cut about three strips of the coffee filters.
Choose the colored washable markers that you want to use in order to demonstrate the chromatography. You can choose three different colors to demonstrate the various compositions of the ink. For example, you may choose to use a green, a blue and a red marker.
Make a small circle at the bottom of each strip of the coffee filter, using a different colored washable marker. For example, put a green circle at the bottom of one filter, a red circle at the bottom of another filter, and a blue circle at the bottom of the other filter.
Fill up three plastic cups with a small amount of water. The cups should be filled less than half-way to the top.
Put each coffee filter in a cup, with the colored part of the coffee filter in the water. Tape the top part of the coffee filter to the cup. This will secure the coffee filters as you perform the experiment.
Allow the coffee filters to stay in the cup for about five minutes. During this time, the ink should be separating into its component colors, and rising up the coffee filter.
Remove the coffee filters from the cups and analyze your results. You can observe which coffee filter has the greatest amount of ink on it, and how the different colors separate.