These days, many of us are spending more time in our kitchens cooking. Did you know that many of the things we do to prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner involve chemistry? This week’s activities are designed to teach students more about the chemistry we encounter every day in the kitchen and elsewhere around the home. From acids and bases to dissolving solutions, kids can learn about chemistry just using everyday items in and around the kitchen.
Online Videos: Use these links to educate and entertain!
- Early Elementary (K-2): Chemical Changes
- Upper Elementary (3-5): Oxidation
- Middle School: Acids and Bases and Salts
- High School: Redox Reaction
Which Will Rust? In this activity, kids will learn the chemical change that takes place when iron unites with oxygen to form iron oxide or rust. After making predictions for various household items, the student will determine that a steel nail (which contains iron) will rust more rapidly compared to other household metal objects.
Will It Dissolve? In this experiment, kids will discover that some substances dissolve in water and some do not. They’ll make predictions about what type of common cooking ingredients dissolve in water and how the temperature of the water impacts the amount of ingredient that can dissolve and the rate at which it dissolves.
Quick Bread Chemistry! In this activity, kids investigate how chemical leavening agents work by examining a quick bread recipe and experimenting with the quick bread leavening ingredients. Quick breads provide a very relevant application of acid-base chemistry to the production of food, and this is demonstrated by “baking” a quick bread using a lidded, nonstick skillet, and a hotplate or stove.
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