School is out for summer. The sun is shining and the pool is crystal clear and cool. And I've been INSIDE trying to redo my blog. Yep. Stop and Smell the .... Children was catchy, but it wasn't a solid fit. Every time I would come to write, it just didn't seem to sit well with me.
So I stopped writing, but now I'm back and with a clearer focus. I love all things elementary. Kids' books-got to have them. Pictures of classrooms- a whole pinterest board. Crayolas and Elmers- check! But my heart always has beat to the drum of science. So an elementary teaching blog with an emphasis on science! I'm set!
This past year, I started a science club at my school. We are a 2nd and 3rd grade school with about 450 students. I was super excited to see 65 kids sign up. My goal was to make the science hands-on and messy! We met once a month and I was important for me that they be able to tell me the science reasoning behind whatever experiment, etc that we did before they got in their cars to go home. We had a blast!
September - Box Turtles Visit the Classroom
October- What Did Your Owl Eat?
November- Field trip! Recycling!
December- Electricity for the Christmas Tree
January- It Holds More?!?! A Volume Tale
February- Homemade Star Lab
March- Plant a Garden, Watch it Grow
April- Ziploc Ice Cream
Which of these do I need right about now? Ice Cream!
If you have never made ice cream in a ziploc bag, it is a must do! So simple!
First of all, kids are amazed that they don't need a machine to make ice cream! Three ingredients, plus salt, plus ice! Let's go!
Give each kid two ziploc bags (1 sandwich size and 1quart or gallon size)
Inside the small bag, put 1 tablespoon sugar, 1/2 cup milk, and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla.
Zip the bag up tight! Put it inside of the larger bag. Add 3 hand fulls of ice and about 1/3 cup of salt to the larger bag. Zip it up! Almost to yummy coldness!
Have the kids mash, mix, twirl, and poke their bags until they see that their liquid milk is looking kind of mushy. Keep going! This will take about 10 minutes or so and they are going to fuss that their fingers are soooo cold! (Hmmmm.... science moment here!)
After my kids got their bags to a good, thicker than milkshake consistency, we pulled out the spoons and the chocolate syrup! Yummy!
Now it's fun to make, tasty to eat, and interesting to learn how it froze. I mean, we add milk to drinks all the time and they don't freeze. Hmmm..... Check out this youtube video to see ScienceOnTheBrain's experiment with melting ice and adding salt.
The temperature of a melting ice cube will steadily increase to around 31 or 32 degrees Fahrenheit, give or take and then it will hang around that temperature for awhile. Milk will not freeze at 32 degrees, so we add salt. This brings the freezing point of the water down low enough for the thermal energy that is in the milk to flow out towards the freezing water. Once enough of the thermal energy has left the milk recipe, it will freeze, making ice cream!
Super easy! Super cheap! Super yummy!
Try it this summer! Now I'm off to sit by the pool and read my book (with a bag of ice cream)!
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