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Kitchen Chemistry: Fun Food Activities and Experiments

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"Curiosity killed the cat, satisfaction brought him back." Though this saying contains no truth, it illustrates a good point. The aim of this unit is to peak the interest of 3-5 year olds in science, chemistry, cooking, and the... See more » "Curiosity killed the cat, satisfaction brought him back." Though this saying contains no truth, it illustrates a good point. The aim of this unit is to peak the interest of 3-5 year olds in science, chemistry, cooking, and the world around them. The experiments and activities are short, make use of easily available materials, and are designed to stimulate the minds of pre-kindergarten age students in a multi-age classroom. From my teaching experience, I know that young children enjoy discovery activities and learn best by engaging in hands-on activities. At the present time, there is no designated science curriculum at the pre-kindergarten level. It's up to each teacher to pick and choose what ideas and lessons he or she wants to teach. However, the newly implemented Letter People curriculum does contain some lesson plan ideas around science-usually to correlate with a theme and a letter, to be covered in either a one or two week time span. Plus, all Head Start teachers are required to do a weekly health and nutrition lesson as well, so many of these experiments could be incorporated into a health or nutrition activity. In addition, the experiments in this curriculum unit are designed to be done by a teacher, with the children as an eager, inquisitive audience. They can be done in small groups of three, four, or five children. While doing the experiments with water, students will discover what types of foods contain starch, find out what a starch is, and learn how to test various foods for starch. Starch is a large molecule found in living cells. It looks like a long twisted chain with many branches sticking out. This long twisted chain is thought to capture the iodine inside the spiral pattern. It combines with iodine to form a distinctive blue-black color (VanCleave 221). This is an excellent way to segue a lesson into a lesson on nutrition or the five basic food groups. Now for a little background information. This will be helpful to know before beginning the classroom activities with water. The linking of two or more atoms produces a molecule. Water molecules have a strong attraction for each other, which draw them closer together. The surface of water acts as if a thin skin were stretched across it (VanCleave 38). This allows objects to float on top. Students will also learn how soap works, what molecules are (see above paragraph), and how they move and observe diffusion. Diffusion is the movement of molecules from one place to another, resulting in an even distribution of the molecule particles. Students will also observe capillary action, the movement of water up through tiny tubes. Students will also make their own soapy bubble solution, and blow soap bubbles. The soap and water molecules link together to form a zigzag pattern (VanCleave 60). This irregular pattern allows the thin layer of liquid to stretch outward when blown into. A related lesson on personal hygiene would also work great here, too. Soap molecules are long. One end will dissolve in water and the other will dissolve in oil. One end of the molecule works on the particles of grease and the other end stays in the molecules of water (Wood 49). I chose these activities because I thought they would be fun and would be of interest to a three, four, or five year old. While observing the experiments with food, students will learn why an apple turns brown. This is due to enzymes, chemicals found in living cells that change the speed of the chemical reaction in the cell. Students will also observe liquids, solids and what happens when they are separated, and observe a liquid change to a solid. When a substance freezes, it changes from a liquid to a solid by reducing the heat content of the liquid. Students will then find out why and how a powder dissolves into a liquid, and see how a solid dissolves when placed into a liquid. Dissolving means that the solute, which is the material that breaks into smaller parts and moves throughout a solvent, moves evenly throughout the solvent (the material that a solute dissolves in) (VanCleave 221,152). I also included See less »

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Kitchen Chemistry: Fun Food Activities and Experiments

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