| It's a warm day, and you would like to take your kids | | | | the bags for ten minutes. You can allow another five |
| out on a picnic. How about converting a homeschool | | | | minutes of shaking, shaking and shaking! |
| science experiment into an ice cream making session? | | | | Then ask each kid to bring their ice cream pack to you |
| Amaze your kids by showing them that with their help, | | | | for examining. Open each bag, and voila! Ice cream's |
| you can make ice cream for them, and that too at | | | | ready! Once done, let them enjoy their frozen treat! |
| their favorite picnic spot. | | | | Isn't this a fun home school science activity? How did |
| You will need to do some preparations the previous | | | | the liquid mixture turn into ice cream? And that too, |
| night or an hour before you set off for the picnic. Boil a | | | | quicker than it would take in a refrigerator? The very |
| mixture of one cup of milk with half a cup of sugar | | | | first thing to remember is that you have divided the |
| and a pinch of salt in a boiling water bath. Add three | | | | mixture into smaller bags and not into one container as |
| beaten egg yolks to the mixture and stir till you get a | | | | you would do in a refrigerator. Without salt, when ice |
| thick custard-like mixture that coats the spoon. Cool it | | | | melts (at 0 degree Celsius or 32 degrees Fahrenheit), it |
| and add vanilla essence and about two cups of heavy | | | | turns into water by absorbing some heat from the |
| whipping cream and stir. Pour the mixture in 3 to 4 | | | | atmosphere. At the same time the water gives out |
| small zip-lock bags, each enough to make one serving. | | | | heat and refreezes into ice. This is called a state of |
| It is preferable to secure this bag with another zip-lock | | | | equilibrium. The mixture requires a temperature less |
| bag. Now put the zip-lock bags with the mixture in an | | | | than 0 degree Celsius in order to make ice cream. |
| ice chest full of ice. You can now put the ice chest in | | | | Salt breaks this equilibrium by changing the make-up of |
| your car as you travel to your favorite picnic spot. It is | | | | the ice and the water. Now the ice melts, but the |
| very essential that the ice does not melt on the way | | | | water does not refreeze into ice since it now requires |
| for your home school science experiment to be a | | | | a temperature less than 0 degrees Celsius to |
| success. | | | | refreeze. The ice now gets no heat to melt, and |
| At the picnic table you can put each zip-lock bag into a | | | | therefore draws heat from the mixture, making the ice |
| larger zip-lock bag that is half filled with ice. Sprinkle | | | | cream mixture even colder. |
| some salt over the ice and seal the large bag. Do this | | | | Furthermore, salt (sodium chloride) splits up in the water |
| with all the smaller bags containing the ice cream | | | | into charged particles of sodium and chlorine. The |
| mixture. Adding a little water to the ice will help | | | | whole mixture of ice, water and salt now becomes a |
| enhance the process. Have as many such bags as | | | | special compound that freezes at a temperature of |
| many kids there are. Hand over one such bag to each | | | | -21.1 degrees Celsius or -6 degrees Fahrenheit. |
| kid and ask the kids to squish and shake the bags. | | | | Therefore the liquid ice cream mixture becomes a |
| Maybe they can toss them up and catch them. The | | | | frozen paste. To get more great science experiments |
| more they squish and shake the bags the faster will | | | | and activities visit the free "Home school Parent's |
| the mixture turn into ice cream. Let them have fun with | | | | Guide to Teaching Science" at the link below. |