Science Experiment: Making Ice Cream! (By N.R.)

I did this experiment so that, 1) the kids could have ice cream and, 2) to show what ingredients I had to use.

Directions:

·       Step 1: Put ice in the Ice Cream Ball on one side, and add ½ cup of ice. Close the side.

·       Step 2: Mix these ingredients in a bowl: 1 Tablespoon sugar, 1/2 cup cream and ½ teaspoon vanilla.

·       Step 3: Open the other side of the Ice Cream Ball and pour in the mixed ingredients. Close the side.

·       Step 4: Have a “ball”! Roll the ball to your friends for 10 to 15 minutes (but no kicking or throwing, or it can break).

·       Step 5: Open the ice cream side and use a spatula to empty out the ice cream. Serve and enjoy!

How does it work?

First watch the video to see what we did. The secret was to lower the freezing point of the ice! How did we do this? With salt! When salt is mixed with ice, it lowers the freezing point of the ice and causes it to melt. The more salt added, the lower the temperature will be before the salt-water solution freezes. Another way to say this is that the heat (energy) of the cream was sucked up (absorbed) with the help of the salt, and it’s called “endothermic”.

P.S. (An explanation for older kids) A 10% salt solution freezes at 20 degrees Fahrenheit instead of 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

If I Were a Pilgrim on the Mayflower... (Written by E.P.)

The Floating Candle Experiment (By J.P.)

When I was the P.Y.P. Very Important Person I wanted to bring an experiment into the class to show my friends. My mom and I looked for an experiment on the Internet and we found one that was about a candle.

The materials I needed were: a candle, bowl, water (with food color), and a glass.

Instructions:

1.    Pour some water into a bowl that can hold water. (I added blue food color to the water to make it easier to see).

2.    Place a lighted candle in the bowl (have an adult do this part).

3.    After lighting the candle, turn a glass upside down onto the bowl.

4.    Watch the water level. What happens?

Explanation: The water level goes up! The candle makes the air hot and the heat makes it expand (get bigger). When the flame goes out, the air gets cold and “shrinks”, and a “vacuum” is made. This vacuum (or air pressure) makes the water get “sucked up” inside the glass!

It was cool showing my classmates this experiment because they didn't know that the candle was going to float! After the first time, they wanted to do it again and again! Watch the video to see for yourself.

Migration Interviews (written by each group)- Where we are in Place & Time unit

Belgium: Belgium is next to France, Switzerland and Germany. We interviewed A. J’s mother, who was born in Belgium, and she told us of a story about a witch who wanted to freeze a boy. This is a famous story in Belgium, and there are different ways to tell the story. Another version of this story talks about a war and the boy peed on the bomb so that everyone would stop fighting. A.J.’s mother has maintained some things from her country, like pewter plates and crocheted placemats. What she had to adapt to when she moved to Ecuador was speaking in Spanish. In the end we all got to eat Belgian waffles!

Canada: We interviewed C. M.’s mother, who is from Canada. She showed us pictures in a book and explained things about Canada, like what the houses are like. She also explained the national animal of Canada (the beaver), and showed us their flag, which has a maple leaf in the middle of it.  We also asked her questions about her country.  We asked her what she needed to adapt to when she moved to Ecuador, and she told us that she needed to adapt to cooking new food and speaking Spanish. Then she gave us some Canadian pancakes with maple syrup to eat!

Venezuela: We learned that Venezuela has the biggest waterfall in the world, and it is called Angel Falls.  We even got to see a video of it!  In Venezuela they also have an instrument called the Cuatro, and it looks like a guitar. They also eat hallacas in Venezuela, and we think that they look like tamales. We learned all these things from A.C.’s dad, who migrated from that country.

Mexico: E. H.’s mother migrated from Mexico, so we interviewed her to find out what it was like to move from that country. The reason she migrated was for her husband’s job. It was hard for her to adapt at first, but then she got used to living in a new country.  We found out that in Mexico everyone says, “Hola!” (hello)  when they meet you. We also learned about Mario Moreno, who was a famous comedian known as Cantinflas, but he died in 1993. E.H.’s mother also brought us a statue of Cantinflas so that we could see what he looked like and sometimes he wore a mini gun. She brought many things for us to see, and she also made quesadillas for everyone to eat! If you ever go to Mexico you will have so much fun. We love Mexico!!!