Liz Lee Heinecke - Sheet Pan Science: 25 Fun, Simple Science Experiments for the Kitchen Table; Super-Easy Setup and Cleanup

THE
KITCHEN PANTRY
SCIENTIST

Fun, Simple
Science Experiments
for the Kitchen Table

Super-Easy Setup and Cleanup

LIZ LEE HEINECKE

The Kitchen Pantry Scientist

K ids and science are a magical combination. Scientific exploration requires curiosity, and kids are famously curious. Most kids enjoy making a mess, and science can be wonderfully messy.

Enter the sheet pan, or rimmed baking sheeta perfect vehicle for projects with a tendency to spill and overflow. With this simple metal tray, young learners can stir up loads of science fun while keeping drips and spills mostly contained.

Originally designed for professional kitchens, sheet pans have become a standard tool for the home cook. Often made of heavy aluminum to conduct heat evenly, the rimmed pans come in a variety of sizes. While full-sheet pans are designed to fit commercial ovens, half-sheet pans measure 18 by 13 inches (46 by 33 cm). You can even find sheet pans as small as an eighth of the size of a full sheet pan. Professional chefs nickname sheet pans by sizehalf-sheets, quarter-sheets, and eighth-sheets. Most home cooks use half-sheets, which are perfect for the projects in this book, but full sheets will work well too.

Sheet Pan Science contains twenty-five fun, educational projects that encourage kids to explore science concepts such as surface tension, germination, and capillary action using items many people have on hand. Each project in this book contains simple instructions, an easy-to-understand science explanation, and step-by-step photographic guides. Although a stovetop or freezer may occasionally be required, most steps of the experiments can be performed directly on a sheet pan, and each project is rated for messiness and complexity.

Messy play is important for young learners. Mixing colors, creating bubbly chemical reactions, and playing with goo are visual and tactile experiences that create strong memory pathways. In addition to allowing kids to explore and hone problem-solving skills, science experimentation encourages curiosity and engages a sense of wonder. A sheet pan and a few simple ingredients will instantly transform any kitchen countertop into a laboratory filled with scientific fun.

The projects in Sheet Pan Science cater to a wide range of interests. While some kids love getting their hands into cornstarch goo, others will enjoy creating colorful tie-dye milk. Using a lemon, aspiring geologists can test rock collections to see whether they contain limestone. Art-lovers may gravitate toward fabric-dyeing and leaf prints, while budding chefs can play with edible experiments.

So grab a sheet pan and a few simple ingredients and let the curiosity bubble over!

FIZZY SCIENCE

Bubbles, Rocks, and Ice Volcanoes

A round 2,500 years ago, the ancient Greeks invented the word atom, which means cannot be cut or indivisible. Today, we use the word atom to refer to the smallest pieces of stuff in our universe. Atoms are the building blocks of everything we can observe using the senses of sight, touch, taste, and smell. Chemical elements are pure substances made up of only one type of atom, such as carbon, silver, or helium.

A chemical compound is a combination of two or more chemical elements held together by invisible bonds. These bonds can be broken and new ones can form, depending on what other chemicals are close by. If you mix two or more chemicals together and the substances recombine and rearrange to make new chemical compounds, youve created what scientists call a chemical reaction.

In this chapter, youll discover experiments that allow you to play with chemical compounds including baking soda, vinegar, citric acid, and detergent. The hands-on projects explore liquids, solids, and gases. You will also be able to experiment with chemical reactions that bubble and observe color changes as you learn about some chemical compounds you interact with every day.

LAB 1

ICE GLOBE VOLCANOES

Mix up a bubbling chemical reaction inside hollow ice globes.

MESS FACTOR	COMPLEXITY
medium	low

MATERIALS

Water

Balloons

Sheet pan

Scissors

cup (55 g) baking soda for each globe

Food coloring of your choice

Jars or glasses

to 1 cup (120 to 240 ml) vinegar for each globe

FIG. 1 Materials

SAFETY TIPS AND HINTS

• Freeze several balloons at a time, if possible. In the freezer, air may not circulate evenly, and some ice globes may break when you remove the water.
• In cold locations, balloons may be frozen outside when the temperature falls below freezing.
• An adult may have to help chip a hole in the ice globe when it is removed from the freezer. It may take a few tries to get the ice thickness correct.

PROTOCOL

1. Use the tap in your kitchen sink to fill a balloon with water until it is 4 or 5 inches (10 or 12 cm) wide. Tie the end and place the balloon in a freezer. Fill more balloons and add them to the freezer as well. Try to position the balloons so that they arent touching each other. .