Cooking with Science

Teach your students about the chemical composition of baking powder and baking soda while making holiday cookies with this exciting lab activity. Your students will learn how to identify acids/bases and identify the products of acid base reactions. In their final experiment, your students will bake cookies using both baking powder and baking soda to determine which is the 'right' one to use. No oven in your class? No problem. The teacher guide addresses all the questions and modifications th

Cellular respiration and fermentation are challenging topics for students unless you make delicious ginger ale as an investigation! This two day lab reviews the types of cellular respiration, introduces alcoholic fermentation, and teaches students how to make ginger ale to investigate temperature vs fermentation rate. Your students will read about the differences between aerobic and anaerobic respiration, the reactants/products, collect qualitative data, and answer follow up questions on the

Growing microbes on agar plates is a great way to teach students about bacteria and the diversity of life. But once your students grow the bacteria, what do you do next? In this lab, students will culture a bacteria plate using their cell phones, keyboards, hands or door knobs and then learn how to analyze bacterial plates to determine the level of ‘cleanliness.’ Students will use basic algebra and geometry to calculate the amount of bacteria present on an agar plate. *This is part of the 5 S

Flesh eating bacteria consumes a girl's hand. A cholera outbreak kills thirty people in a rural town. Salmonella poisoning sends a family to the hospital. Bacteria are powerful (and helpful) microbes that live everywhere. In this assignment your students will research a deadly bacteria and write a fake newspaper article about an outbreak of the disease. Students will love to learn about the world's most deadly bacteria and take on the role of a scientific reporter. Included in this produc

Students will design an experiment to test the ‘5 Second Rule’ and carry out the investigation. Following the investigation students will create a lab poster (or write a lab report) detailing their experimental findings. The 5 Second Rule (or in some cases 10 Second Rule) is one of the most popular urban myths out there. This lab should be completed after your students have learned about bacteria(but not binary fission). The first step is for students to understand how to culture a bacteria p

In this month(or year) long activity, students will learn about the role of a scientist and learn how to ask scientific questions and make observations. Your students will seal a piece of fruit in a mason jar and record observations each week as the fruit changes. This activity will strengthen your students writing and observational skills as they collect information about what happens to their fruit. For higher level students/classes, you will determine how a variable(temperature, light, etc

Building student engagement with prokaryotic cells(bacteria) can be a challenging task. The "Beneficial Bacteria & Yogurt Unit" extends upon the basic prokaryotic information and teaches students about fermentation, binary fission, types of bacteria and benefits of prokaryotes. Your students will utilize their knowledge of bacterial reproduction and fermentation to examine the effects of temperature on the production of yogurt from milk. Students will use a starter culture to test the best t

The Super Bundle is both "Honey, Slow Down" & "Molecular Gastronomy: Xanthan Gum & Diet Milkshake Lab" combined. The individual product descriptions are below: "Honey, Slow Down" Viscosity is commonly referred to as the 'thickness' of a liquid. But why are some liquids thick while others are thin? Do your students know? In this lesson and lab, students will learn about the reasons for varying viscosity in liquids. They will design an experiment that investigates the relationship between vis

Density = Mass/Volume. Got it. Now expand on this classic concept by having your students find the amount of sugar in soda! This four day(or less) activity has your students will apply their understanding of density to determine the amount of sugar present in a beverage of their choice and compare it to the amount listed in the nutrition facts. Your students will create a calibration curve from known concentrations of sugar water, design their own experiment to test for sugar content, calculate

Yeast, like students, are picky eaters. They will go crazy for a teaspoon of sucrose but literally die of starvation when given lactose. Why so picky? It's all due to their ability to metabolize certain sugars. In this lab your students will explore which sugars can be metabolized by yeast for energy production by combining various sugar solutions with yeast cultures. This product includes a 6 page student lab sheet including pre-lab reading, questions, material list, procedure, data table

What is lactose intolerance? What is boxed milk? How does the curd and whey content relate to fat content in milk? Answer all these questions and more with this great bundle of two of my favorite products. The PowerPoint presentation covers all the basic information about milk including proteins, sugars, lactose intolerance, homogenization and pasteurization. The follow up lab investigates the curd/whey content in various types of milk. This bundle can easily be translated into two lesson p

Need a one day lab for break? Need to reinforce basic scientific skills? Want to reward your kids? This is THE lab for you. Students will investigate whether or not they can obtain more juice from a lemon once it has been microwaved. I'm sure you're thinking, "what happens to the juice?" I'm glad you asked! Your kids will then make a fizzy lemon drink recipe to enjoy as they share data, perform basic calculations and draw conclusions based on the data. This stand alone ONE DAY lab reinfo

Does searing a steak seal in juices? Does salt help pasta cook faster? In this week long investigation your students will investigate and test these types of myths! Students will learn about popular kitchen myths, research their own myth and design a procedure to investigate it quantitatively. This activity is ideal to reinforce the scientific method, experimental design and lab writing skills for students at all levels. The Unit Plan contains a daily breakdown of lessons, worksheets, note

Looking for a fun, exciting science lesson for your students? Here it is! Teach your students about how scientists make yogurt using bacteria and milk. That's right, bacteria! You will dispel the myth that bacteria are harmful microbes by teaching your students about how they are used in food production. Your students will then apply their knowledge to make their very own yogurt! This product includes the following: -22 Slide PowerPoint on food products from milk, yogurt making and a proced

Viscosity is commonly referred to as the 'thickness' of a liquid. But why are some liquids thick while others are thin? Do your students know? In this lesson and lab, students will learn about the reasons for varying viscosity in liquids. They will design an experiment that investigates the relationship between viscosity of honey and temperature. Students must use their critical thinking skills to not only design the experiment but the method for data collection. This lesson and lab is des

Create a custom Periodic Table with your class by using the Adopt an Element 2.0 project. Students will be assigned an element which they must research: Basic atomic structure Ionization Energies(1st and 2nd) Electron configurations(Full and Abbreviated) Bohr & Lewis Dot Electron Models Isotopes Uses in Society This activity is designed for a HS Chemistry class beyond the basics of protons, neutrons and electrons. Students should have the background knowledge described above in order to succ

Review the basic atomic theory and periodic trends with this 5 station activity. Your students will work with a partner at each station to learn about(or review) a specific topic relating to atomic theory. Students will answer questions of increasing difficulty as they move from station to station. Topics covered: Electrons(Charges, Bohr model & Ions) Protons(Atomic Number) Neutrons(Atomic Mass & Isotopes) Atomic Radius Ionization Energy Trends Great for review, reinforcement or preparatio

Want to integrate writing into your biology class? Looking for a GREAT protist project? This is it! Your students will research a disease caused by the kingdom formerly known as monera and use the information to write a creative story detailing a person's encounter with the disease. The goal of this assignment is two fold: incorporate writing/peer editing/creativity & teach them about how protists interact with humans. Past student products have included: Plasmodium on trail for killing

Milk is a great vehicle to teach your students about lactose, lactose intolerance, and food preservation. This 17 slide PowerPoint covers the basic components of milk, treatment and how lactose free milk is produced. It is a great opener to a dairy unit or can be used to extend upon the basics of simple carbohydrates. The opening slide lists the topics in a fun and engaging way. Topics include: Little Miss Muffet’s odd eating habits Lactose & Sugar 101 Lactose & people’s intolerance for

You've heard about her fear of spiders and love for curd and whey. But what are curd and whey exactly? In this lab your students will find out! By adding acid to different types of milk, your students will determine the overall curd vs whey percentage of various types of milk and create a data table & graph to display their results. They will also learn about the two main classes of proteins in milk and how they are used to create yummy treats like cheese and yogurt. This lab is ideal for