Ice Cream Science

The first activity in the project is hands-on ice cream making, which your students will do in pairs. Review Step A of the Student Activity pages, and then gather the needed materials and resources to bring to class. You will need:

Before launching the lesson, use Internet Explorer to check out the Teacher Links listed under Resources-which provide useful science background-and to preview the Student Links. Bookmark the sites you like best by selecting Add to Favorites from the Favorites menu.

Under Resources, you will find three Microsoft PowerPoint templates for your students to use in pulling together and presenting their ice cream findings. Download all three templates to a location that is easily accessible to your students, such as the shared drive of your classroom network or a floppy disk that students can pass around.

Because your students will be working in pairs for this project, decide in advance whether you will assign partners or let them choose their own.

Before your students begin making ice cream in Step A, you'll want to set up a grid on the board to record the names in each group, the amount of salt each group uses, and the amount of time it takes each group's ice cream to freeze.

If possible, use a digital camera to capture pictures of your students during the ice cream making. Students can integrate those pictures into their work in Steps B and C.

Copy and distribute the Student Activity pages, and get ready for some cool science!

Your teacher will give you two plastic baggies, one large and one small.

With your partner, add the following ingredients to the small bag:

Seal the bag and take turns squishing and shaking it to mix things up.

Now fill your large plastic bag half full of ice, and add the amount of salt that your teacher tells you to add. (Different teams will use different amounts of salt. Your teacher will record this on the board.)

Make sure your small bag is still completely sealed, and put it into the large bag with the ice and salt. Seal the large bag.

Wrap your large plastic bag in newspaper, towel, or whatever your teacher supplies. Figure out the best way to shake and churn the bag (remember teamwork!).

Guess how long it will take for your ice cream mixture to freeze. Your teacher will record your guess on the board.

Wait for your teacher's signal, and then begin shaking and churning. Keep up a fast pace!

Check every couple of minutes to see whether your ice cream is frozen yet. When it is, call out "Ice cream!" Your teacher will record the time on the board.

Take your small bag of ice cream out of the big bag, dispose of the big bag according to your teacher's instructions, and settle down with your partner to eat your ice cream.

While you're enjoying your ice cream, look at the information on the board from the other teams. Which teams' ice cream froze fastest? Slowest? Why? Your teacher will lead a discussion about ice and salt and how they work together to freeze.

With your partner, choose one of the PowerPoint templates that your teacher has set up for you. Open the template, click Save as on the File menu, and save it under your names. Then keep the PowerPoint presentation open or print it so that you can use it to record the questions and answers that follow.

With your partner, think of five questions that you most want to answer about how ice cream becomes ice cream. Type your questions on the What We Want to Know slide of your PowerPoint presentation. Here are some suggestions to get you started:

Use your classroom computer and Internet Explorer to search the Internet for answers to your questions. Your teacher has chosen some Favorites to start with, but you may want to dig even deeper.

As you find answers, type them or paste them into your What We Found Out slides, which are numbered to match each of your five questions. (If you need more room for an answer to a question, select that What We Found Out slide and select Duplicate Slide from the Insert menu. Be sure to change the number in the title of the new slide.)

Once your question-and-answer research is complete, think back to your team's ice-cream-making experience. Use the Make Ice Cream slides to write very clear, step-by-step instructions for making ice cream. (If you need more Make Ice Cream slides, select one, and then select Duplicate Slide from the Insert menu. Once again, be sure to change the number in the title of the new slide.)

Go to your What We Want to Know slide, and proofread your questions. Edit as necessary for clarity.

Next, go through your What We Found Out slides, and make sure you have a good answer for each question. Edit the text to present the information clearly, briefly, and in your own words. Cite your source for each fact.

Look over your Make Ice Cream step-by-step slides to be sure they are clear.

Finally, go back to the very first slide, and give your presentation a title. Add your names, as well.

Save your work.

Your teacher will arrange a time for you to present your "cool" ice cream findings-and to see what your classmates have discovered as well!