Friday, April 5, 2013

E is for ... "Experiments"

I

f there is one subject that I know will always interest my children it is when we do experiments. They also love cooking so when I can combine the two it makes for two very happy girls. Recently we completed another one of our "Science at Home Awards", a  "Chemical Changes" experiment.



Here the girls are making sherbet. I never told them what they were making I just give them the instructions to read, IE what they need and how to make up whatever it is and leave them to it.



I do like to ask a few questions as they go along so they notice things happening and sometimes I have them write up a report as they go along. Here I had them add their final mixture to some water and they loved seeing it bubble up. There were a few squeals of delight and worry that the water would bubble over. I had them taste it, and they didn't really like it and then I had them add some cranberry juice to it and they tasted it again and really liked it this time.




I had them pop some of the mixture onto their finger and taste it, with still no clue as to what it was and as you can tell from the pics they were rather surprised by the result. Their faces were rather funny. They couldn't wait for the Papa to come home so they could pop some in his mouth and watch his reaction.

Just in case in case anyone would like to try this themselves, to make this sherbert, you simply need 50 gms icing sugar, 25 gms baking soda and 25 gms of citric acid. Simply mix it all together and store it in a sealed jar.

4 comments :

  1. That last photo is so delightful! I remember Andy making sherbert with his school class. His kids' reactions were similar!

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    1. Sue have you heard of "miracle berries"? They are native to West Africa. Companies have made tablets from them and you simply dissolve one on your tongue and immediately bitter and sour foods taste extraordinarily sweet! We have a little sample pack and I haven't tried them yet.

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  2. This is the cutest story! It was such a good idea, not telling them what they were making. (Also, I am going to have to try this now myself)

    - T'Laina

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    1. Thank you. Don't forget to make the faces when you try it ... lol ;)

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