Kitchen Science

YIKES!!! Now I've done it! I have a blog on which to ramble on and on about homeschooling. I promise I won't get on any soapboxes... this is just a place for me to share what we're doing, what works for us, and what doesn't.... my periodic curriculum quandaries I go through and those "ah ha" moments when something finally clicks.

I haven't had time to make the place pretty yet.... I just wanted to get started while I had something to chat about. I'll have plenty of time to give the place a makeover during the holiday break. :-)

So.... the title is kitchen science... so let's get to it!

We went to a great workshop today! I love it when local museums are open to planning activities for homeschoolers! Today we went to the Notebaert Nature Museum for Kitchen Science. It was a fabulous workshop! It really exceeded my expectations! I thought it would be fun, but I was expecting more of a kitchen concoction type workshop than an actual science workshop.

Here's the white board with the outline of the workshop down the right side:
Real science stuff, huh? I love it when I learn things too!

The kids started out learning about molecules and polymers by building models out of gumdrops.

Then we did the yeast experiment. Clara's group used hot water and Alex's used warm. That's his with the gold balloon. That group of balloons in the background are the cold water ones.After a break, we moved on to chromatography. After some serious experiments, the kids got to their own fun chromatography experiment with markers, coffee filters and water.

First they folded and colored their filters...
Then put the point of the filter into a cup of water and waited until the whole filter was wet.
Then they unfolded and dried their filters to see how the colors had separated.


The next step was to turn the filters into butterflies with clothespins. They turned out really cute (but my pictures... not so much).

It was a great day and I really hope that the Nature Museum continues to offer workshops like this!