First graders are currently studying solids and liquids in their classes. To have a little fun and experiment with changing states of matter our class made ice cream this afternoon! I have to apologize that there are no photos with this post but teaching 17 children to make ice cream by hand left me otherwise occupied and my camera didn't get a chance to come out! I am sending the directions for our experiment home today, though, so if you would like to re-create it over the weekend you can. With just a couple of kids and an adult it would be very quick and easy! If you try it at home I would love to hear about it or see your photos!
To make our ice cream we mixed ingredients in a quart sized zip-lock bag (milk, evaporated milk, egg, sugar, vanilla), then put that bag into a gallon sized zip-lock bag which was filled with ice and rock salt (the same kind you use on your driveway). We made certain that each bag was sealed so that the contents of each one stayed separate, then we got into small groups and took turns shaking the bags. After about 10 minutes of shaking the milk mixture had frozen and become ice cream! We finished our experiment by tasting the ice cream and talking about what we learned.
During our experiement we watched the changes from liquid, to solid, then back to liquid (as our ice cream started to melt on our plates). We also got a chance to see and discuss condensation as kids began to notice that the outside of our ice bags started feeling damp after several minutes. Ask your child tonight and they should be able to tell you all about it! They should be able to explain the experiment, the change from liquid to solid and back as a result of temperature changes, and tell you that condensation occurs when the air touching the bag of ice changes from a gas back to a liquid because of the temperature! We are learning so much!
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