Overview:
In this experiment, students will learn how to make their own ice cream without putting it in the freezer, the old-fashioned way. When combining milk, ice cubes, salt, and a flavor of your preference, you can make your own ice cream in minutes forming a chemical reaction = dairy chemistry.
Time:
10-20 minutes
Lesson Materials:
*You can use the document in the link below to either: tailor the experiment to your needs or to have a printable version of this lesson plan*
Make Your Own Ice Cream Lesson Plan
The plan is editable and printable. Copy the Google Doc in your own drive and make edits or you can just print.
Make Your Own Ice Cream Lesson Video:
Learning Objectives:
- Create a chemical reaction to form a compound.
- Use salt to lower the melting point of ice.
- Test and analyze the process and the results of the experiment with the given instructions.
- Observe and identify if the experiment was successful.
Materials Needed:
- Milk (of your choice)
- Sugar
- Ice cubes
- Salt
- Ziplock bags
- Measurement cups
- Dishtowel
- Chocolate milk powder (optional)
- Vanilla extract (optional)
- Toppings of your choice (optional)
- Example: sprinkles
Experimental Methods:
Step 1: Measure the following into a Ziplock bag:
– 1 cup milk
– 4 Tablespoons sugar
– 1 Teaspoon flavoring (optional)
Step 2: Measure 2 cups of ice and pour it into a bigger Ziplock bag.
Step 3: Measure 6 Tablespoons of salt and pour it over the ice.
Step 4: Place the small bag inside of the large one. Close the larger bag tightly.
Step 5: Power up your “shaking machine” arms by shaking your bag back and forth with a dish towel covering it, shaking it for 5-10 minutes.
Step 6: When the ice cream starts to thicken, get a cup and spoon.
Step 7: Enjoy!
Questions to Think About:
- What would happen if we used a different type of milk? Does whole fat milk work as well as cream? Will non-dairy milk work as well as dairy milk?
- Ex: will almond milk create a thinner substance of ice cream?
- What materials could be used instead? Alternative flavors, kinds of milk, etc.
- How long will it take for the ice cream to start to develop before it turns into ice cream?
- Does changing the amount of salt added to affect the temperature?
- Too much or too little.
- Once the ice cream is formed, what will happen if you continue to shake the ice cream bag?
Chemistry:
You may be asking why we need salt for this experiment. We will be using salt to lower the melting point of the ice. When we add salt to ice, it lowers the temperature of the ice making it colder. Ice melts when it absorbs heat from its surroundings. So when more ice melts, more heat is absorbed which brings the temperature down even lower, just like the ice cream in the bag. The ice absorbs the heat from our liquids to melt which allows the ice cream to freeze. The ingredients from our ice cream are chemically combined, which means once they are mixed together. Once things are chemically combined, they cannot be separated again. Once we make our ice cream, we will have made a chemical compound.
Society:
We rely on technology and appliances to do a majority of tasks for us. This experiment allows children to understand that although ice cream is usually chilled in the freezer or made with nitrogen, children are able to make ice cream on their own without any appliances. We also use salt to melt the ice on roads so roads are not as slippery and dangerous to drive on. The antifreeze in cars use a similar concept to lower freezing point and prevent the engine from freezing in cold weather, it also increases the boiling point and prevents cars from overheating in hot weather.
Logistics:
STEAM Subjects:
Science (Chemistry) and Math
Science Vocabulary:
chemically combined, compounds, mixtures, melting point
References:
- Ice Cream in a Bag. Delish. 2019.
https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a54721/ice-cream-in-a-bag-recipe/
- Ice Cream In A Bag. Exp!ore Lab Science.
https://www.michigan.gov/documents/explorelabscience/Ice_Cream_in_a_Bag_578220_7.pdf
