Simply Scientific

Can air lift people?

Tuesday in science we did a new fun experiment! I love the breaks in our lectures when we are able to do some hands on learning. Today we were testing whether air can lift heavy things. We blew up 4 balloons, put them under a table upside down, then saw how many people can stand on the table!

yes somehow there are still balloons not popped under this table! So YES it can!

What happens to a gingerbread man in the water?

The ginger break man initially floats. It will expand as it absorbs water and then begin to sink. As it loses its color and the water becomes yellow, the cookie becomes less dense and rises back to the top of the water.

How about an M&M?

The color spreads throughout the water and then the white candy shell disperses eventually leaving just the chocolate in the midst of colored water.  

Cookies = a chemical change in science

Well first off what is a chemical change? It is producing one or more new substances; in this case it is through absorption of energy through heat. We had the opportunity this morning to teach to science to our group of 4 in class. In order to teach to NZ curriculum I taught to objectives L 1-4 comparing the differences in physical and chemical change that occur when materials are mixed, heated and cooled. Every ingredient serves s purpose for how the cookies turn out. The sugar melts, crystallizing and browning, creating the hard texture. The flour absorbs the liquid helping the cookie to keep its structure or shape. The butter is necessary to allow the cookie to spread and most importantly the baking powder that causes the cookies to rise. The baking powder lets off CO2 in the heat, which creates those tiny air bubbles in cookies. Well that is all the science lesson, not I will get to the fun!

No snickerdoodles?

So since they do not have snickerdoodles in New Zealand I decided to bake some. Michael (my little host brother) and I began to make the dough. (It was great because Michael bakes desserts about every night!) It’s can be pretty tricky here because they use a metric measuring system, so either I am not sure how much a measurement is, or I google a US recipe and don’t have the conversions. Luckily they have measuring cups and spoons that worked to follow the US recipe. We cooked about half the cookies last night and I saved half the dough to bring to school today. The ovens heat up in Celsius, so I found out I must use 180 degrees, not 350! 

My science group consisted of Amanda, who was in charge of butter. It is amazing you buy a little bottle of cream, split it into 2 containers so there is room to shake, and you begin shaking. It separates butter and milk, allowing you to pour the milk down the sink and rinse it with water so it does not have the sour flavor from the milk. We put that on French bread with some garlic salt……mmmm it was so creamy I highly recommend it! Then there was Brooke was in charge of the pizza talking about differences in physical and chemical change and lastly Kirsten who was in charge ofthe iceblocks (popsicles) and discussing the differences in states of matter. It is necessary to have a 2^nd to last day of school party!!

So the church building we meet in for school is pretty old and the kitchen smells horrendous! We toughed it out though in order to get our food made. We switched on the power supply to the circuit for the over, but when we turned that oven dial, nothing happened! Can you believe that? The stovetop worked, but the oven was done for! We decided since we are supposed to be doing a science experiment we need to try to be resourceful. We searched around for what we could possibly use in order to create an oven. All we had was a roll of aluminum foil (no pans or trays), a plastic with cookie dough and a plastic with cinnamon and sugar in it.

I had the great idea of trying the microwave. It is simply applying heat to the dough, right? RIGHT! The first cookie I put in a one of the plastic lids and turned the microwave on for 1 minute. ABORT MISSION, something started burning, we ran the cookie out the door smoking, and found the cookie was black and the plastic was melting. It seemed the microwave was working though because the cookie had spread from a ball into a perfect cookie form, just cooked a little too long and on the wrong material. We had no plates or even paper towels, but we found a paper and a glass jar! Hmm we would have to make do with what we have. I tried a second time with the microwave placing dough on the top of an upside down jar, stopping it in 15-second intervals. Perfection, 45 seconds on the glass was just right! The cookie was not as good as the oven, but it was pretty dang close! I then tried the paper, and voila! The same thing happened!!

Little Burnt!

While I was busy with the Microwave Amanda was busy building an over on the stovetop. She pulled out the metal racks from the oven and paced them over the stove, balancing on a hunk of brick and some bark! We used the foil to make a bottom and also create a top to allow the heat to travel. We put sticks around the side of the newly created over in order to keep the heat within it. 

These cookies took a little longer than 45 seconds and did require flipping about half way through, but about 8 minutes later we had more cookies! Science is amazing! These tasted a little more like the oven, but not the exact same! Both were delicious. Some preferred the microwave ones, while others liked the stovetop. I was so impressed how creative we could be! Yes I do not think my major could be more fitting for me, I just love it!

Well tomorrow is the last day of school! I cannot believe how the time has flown! I have already been here 24 days! That is crazy! Tomorrow we will be headed to school with all our camping gear and all us girls will be heading out to Cormandle just after school. I am so excited for camping on the beach! We will be back Sunday night and take off at 5am Monday morning for the South Island! 

Oh and I am planning to do the half marathon February 25^th! I have been training like no other, endurance, speed, hill repeats, etc! Hopefully that will help balance out all the treats I have been eating since I got here! Wish me luck!