taste

What's your favorite food?
* sweet
* sour
* salty
* bitter
Have counter count how many people like each.

1. What are the four familiar tastes?
   
2. What part of the body do we use to taste?
3. Fifth flavor, "Umami." Cheese is an example of Umami.
4. other things about food -- spicy, temperature, color, smell
   

Food you absolutly hate. What do you hate about it?
Have counter count qualities.

Going to be looking at taste. Will be using flavors on a cotton swab... don't mix and don't share.
Have four students demo how the taste test is done and how it's mapped. These become helpers at stations.

Can you taste the same thing in all areas of the tongue? Sweet, salty, sour, bitter. Bumps on tongue are taste buds and some get replaced every 24 hours! It was once thought that you could taste things only in one area. Is this true?

3. Using your map, point to the places on your tongue where you would most likely taste a candy bar, potato chips, lemon juice, and a grapefruit peel.

bitter medicine -- people spit it out. If you put sugar in, is the bitter still there? Why would they tell us to put aspirin on the front of the tongue before swallowing it?

1. What does the sense of taste teach you about the world we live in?
   
2. How does taste help us select and enjoy food?
3. What would happen to you without the sense of taste?
   

food coloring... paint your tongue front with blue food coloring. Place wax paper on tip of tongue. Count the number of unstained circles. the more of those you have the more fungiform tastebuds you have. This is why some people can't eat certain foods. Changes as you get older.

1. Describe how the sense of taste and the sense of smell are related.
   
2. What are some things that should not be tasted

Perfumes (which is which?) artificial flavor.

Smell-a-drink (coke and pepsi and diet coke) Which is which?
making gum drops?

Nose pinch and blindfolded smell of coke and pepsi and diet coke.

Forces

note: if class is small, divide into stations. For largest class, demonstrations. Bring tops.

Forces make stopped objects move and moving objects stop.
Have two volunteers jump. What made them come down? What made them go up (prompt for muscles)? Drop pencil. What made it fall?
Catapult... what made ball fly?
bouncing ball... what happens when it bounces? bounce clay. Now what do you think happens? Push in ball -- what happens to surface? Push in clay? How does ball act like muscles?

"Center of gravity"... what does that sound like? Place where things balance.
Put hat and string on someone's head. have them stand with legs apart. Where is center of gravity? Now stand on one leg. Where is it?
partner control -- have two kids. Ones sits on chair other puts thumb against first one's forehead. try to stand up. What happened with center of gravity?
have child prove they can bend to pick up pencil. Now, stand with toes to wall. Take 3 toe-heel steps back. pick up a pencil (they can't). What happened with center of gravity when you stick your hips way out?
Balance an improbable object with pencils (ball of clay on fork) How did that change center of gravity?

gyroscopes and tops -- precession causes motion in a circle. What makes a good top? How could I turn clay into top?
Gyroscope and bike wheel
coke bottle demo
Hot wheels roller coaster (but only use kids who have earned tokens)
Penny inside a balloon -- spinning things change their behavior. Throw balloon with spinning penny. What happened?

Dry Ice

Set up:

Make sure there's some space between kids, have them work in pairs.
Make sure there's warm water around (pitcher of water)
If you have a chance, put a spoon in the warm water while you take roll, etc.

Get attention of kids, give them rules, introduce yourself.

explain that we are going to play with something that most kids never get to touch. Drop dry ice (use spoon) in a glass of water, and sip it as it foams. Tell them that at the end they will get to try the same kind of drink for themselves. Pour some of the fog on a kid's head.

Mention that dry ice "sublimes" (turns into gas, not liquid) as it melts. Tell them you can demonstrate it (put warm spoon on a large chunk of dry ice. Press firmly. Let them hear it "sing."

Show how cold it is by putting water in teaspoon and count seconds until it freezes.

Give them water with a little bit of soap in it, let them play with the bubbles.

Make "fizzy drink"

Put the last of the dry ice in warm water, let them sit around fog, try to corral it. Talk about Halloween special effects.
Give teams a cup (or container) for water and straw

Classic slime

What you need:

• borax powder (20 Mule Team borax is what I use)
• water
• 4 ounces glue (that's 1/2 cup. Use Elmer's white glue or the blue school glue White makes opaque slime)
• teaspoon
• bowl
• jar or measuring cup
• food coloring (optional)
• measuring cup

pour the glue into the jar. Add 1/2 cup of water (if you're feeling lazy, just empty the glue bottle and then fill it with water and mix in there. Add coloring.

Mix 1 tsp of borax into 1 cup of water. Slowly stir the glue-water into the borax-water mix (note... this makes a LOT of slime. You can make small amounts of it at a time, however)

For kids, pour it into a ziplock bag and have them knead the bag until the slime forms. The more that it's worked, the firmer it becomes. Store the slime in this bag in the refrigerator to prevent mold.


Slime Fun:
Do a "slime drop." (does it fall all at once or stretch? Whose falls slowest?)
What happens if you pull it apart really fast?
What happens when you pull it apart slowly?
Do "whose slime stretches farthest" race and "who has chunkiest slime".

Have them name their slime.

Growing cyrstal gardens

A fun project to do in class over the period of a week or so is grow crystals. Here's one of the "classic" recipes:

• substrate.
• 4 tbsp. bluing (found in grocery stores)
• 4 tbsp. salt (any kind)
  
• 1 tbsp. ammonia
  
• 4 tbsp. water
  
• food coloring
  
• plastic bowl or plate
  

Place small pieces of porous rock (some lava rocks are ideal), pieces of broken clay flowerpot basins, pieces of brick, or even charcoal bricks (or paper towels, if nothing else is available) in a shallow plastic plate. Soak the substrate for 15 minutes, dot with food coloring, and pour the crystal mix over the substrate. Make sure there's enough of the mix to soak/float the substrate in.

Crystals will begin to grow in four hours and can continue growing for up to three days, depending on other conditions. Add more solution to keep them growing for a bit longer.