Nothing new to report from the Lab, except for all the exciting learning journeys we have in store for the kids this week! Keep reading to find out what they are…
COOKING UP SCIENCE
There is no emulsion more important to our diets than milk. Unlike other mammals, most humans consume it far into their lives. It is such an important part of our diets that our dairy-farming ancestors even found ways to extend the short shelf life of this emulsion of water, fats, protein and sugars. This week, we will break down this emulsion just as they did to make a range of dairy products. We will use acid to make mouldable plastic that won’t be appetising to be considered cheese. By shaking all its fat together, we will churn our own butter. And by adding some helpful bacteria, we will get it to “spoil” in just the right way to make creamy yoghurt.
PLANET EARTH, ANIMATED
Life may never have been possible on Earth had it not been for our atmosphere. It contains the oxygen that large lifeforms need to release energy, just like the flames we will light and suffocate. It also has just the right amount of heat-trapping carbon dioxide, a gas we will use to extinguish any flames that get out of hand, which keeps our planet’s temperature just right. But most importantly, it pushes down on us with pressure. Once we use this atmospheric pressure to karate chop rulers and suck candles into flasks upon columns of water, we will use a vacuum chamber to show what life would be like without air. Cold boiling water and exploding marshmallows await!
RAMPANT REACTIONS
For all the thieving chemicals like oxygen that like to steal electrons, there are generous ones that love to give up their electrons. This Reduction can change chemicals in spectacular ways. We will make silver appear out of “water” to coat our test tubes before we make colour disappear altogether. With the help of glucose, a reducing sugar, we will turn a blue dye-filled bottle colourless right before our eyes. But it gets better! Shake the bottle, adding some oxidising oxygen back into the mix, and watch the dye materialise out of thin air.
