Project Description
Kitchen Chemistry
A fun food workshop challenging you to think about everyday food in a whole new way. Experiment with a variety of food-related chemicals, and you even get to take home a bag of sweet, tongue-tingling sherbet!
Level: Suitable for Foundation to Level 2.
Duration: Available in a 60 or 90 minute format. We recommend a 90 minute format if budget and timetabling constraints allow.
Numbers: Each workshop can cater to a maximum of 30 children. However, smaller groups have better access to equipment and the facilitator.
State: VIC, NSW & QLD
Learning Outcomes
Every substance in the world is a chemical.
Yeast is a special kind of fungus that we use when baking. Yeast produces a gas called carbon dioxide that makes bread and cakes rise.
Some foods contain acids and some contain bases. You can test for them by using an indicator. Acids and bases neutralise each other when mixed together.
Chemical reactions produce new substances. If a gas is produced, lots of bubbles can be seen. If the gas is allowed to build up in a container, it can explode the container. Sometimes chemical reactions can produce heat, and other times they use heat.
Chemical reactions can be sped up or slowed down by adding other substances to the reaction.
The ‘fizzy’ sensation experienced when eating sherbet is the bubbles of gas produced by an acid-base reaction.
The acid in certain fruits can be used to generate electricity.
Milk contains water, protein, and tiny droplets of fat. All of these interact with detergent.
Activities
Students observe the respiration of yeast, evidenced by the production and capture of carbon dioxide.
Students use an indicator to identify an acid and a base. They observe the process of neutralisation by mixing an acid and base together.
Demonstration of a chemical reaction using kitchen chemicals that produce carbon dioxide gas.
Students perform a similar chemical reaction and observe what happens when the gas pressure is allowed to build up. They feel the temperature of the chemical reaction.
Demonstration of a chemical reaction that produces heat and light energy.
Make and eat sherbet, noting the ‘fizzy’ sensation produced by the chemical reaction.
90 minute workshops also include these activities:
Students observe how the acid in a citrus fruit can be used to generate electricity and power a device.
Students use food colouring to observe the effect of disrupting the surface tension of milk.
Victorian Curriculum Links
People use science in their daily lives (VCSSU041)
Objects are made of materials that have observable properties (VCSSU044)
Everyday materials can be physically changed or combined with other materials in a
variety of ways for particular purposes (VCSSU045)Participate in guided investigations, including making observations using the senses, to
explore and answer questions (VCSIS051)
NSW Curriculum Links
Identifies that objects are made of materials that have observable properties (STe-4MW-ST)
Identifies that materials can be changed or combined (ST1-6MW-S)
Questions, plans and conducts scientific investigations, collects and summarises data and communicates using scientific representations (ST2-1WS-S)
Australian Curriculum Links
People use science in their daily lives, including when caring for their environment and living things (ACSHE035)
Objects are made of materials that have observable properties (ACSSU003)
Everyday materials can be physically changed or combined with other materials in a
variety of ways for particular purposes (ACSSU018)Participate in guided investigations, including making observations using the senses, to
explore and answer questions (ACSIS025)
