Ice Cream, Ice Cream We All Scream for Ice

Cream!
Ice cream is enjoyed by most individuals in the United States following cookies as a
second favorite dessert. Ask students what their favorite desserts are and see if ice
cream comes in first or second. Have students write in their journals and share a
story about the last time they had their favorite dessert! Everything tells a story!
Read the story, What Was It Before It Was Ice Cream?, by Colleen Reece. Discus the
story.

Take a survey of the class and school to discover every ones favorite ice cream
flavor. Make a simple graph of the data. The 15 most popular ice cream reported
by the International Ice Cream Association are: Vanilla (29.0%), Chocolate (8.9%),
Butter Pecan (5.3%), Strawberry (5.3%), Neapolitan (4.2%), Chocolate Chip
(3.9%), French Vanilla (3.8%), Cookies and Cream (3.6%), Vanilla Fudge Ripple
(2.6%), Praline Pecan (1.7%), Cherry (1.6%), Chocolate Almond (1.6%), Coffee
(1.6%), Rocky Road (1.5%), Chocolate Marshmallow (1.3%), and all the other
flavors (23.7%). Make a graph and compare the data. Try making several types of
graphic displays of the data.

This may be a time in your class to teach how to make different types of graphs
from the same data. Students learn a great deal by making different graphs from
the same data. Make all graphs in their journals or paste them into the journals.
Allow each student to interpret the graphs in the journal so you know they know
what the graphic data tells each one of your students.

Ice Cream Consumption:

Plan A:

Place these questions on the tops of the investigation sheet then give one to each
group of students so they may research or experiment to discover the correct
answer. (Sheet will be at the end of this unit.)

Plan B:

Once students discover these answers through research take a class, school or
community survey and compare the data. Place all the data, graphs and analysis
in the journals.
Plan C:

Experiment with the making of the ice cream. This idea will be placed below
under the receipt.

Investigative Questions:
1. How many quarts of ice cream do you think you eat in a year?
2. How much do you think each American consumes in a year? The research
data showed that each American eats 23.2 quarts of ice cream a year.
NOTE: Explore how big a quart is and what it looks like in different
containers.
3. Based on sales data of ice cream which month or months do you think
Americans bought the most ice cream? July and August. National ice cream
month of July was selected based on the data.
4. Who eats the most ice cream? Children ages two through 12 and adults 45
years of age and older.
5. What day of the week is the most ice cream eaten? Sunday.
6. Which states produce the most ice cream? 1. California, 2. Indiana, 3. Ohio,
4. Illinois, and 5. Michigan.
7. Miscellaneous facts: NOTE: These could be turned into investigative
questions.
1. The favorite topping for ice cream is chocolate syrup.
2. The biggest ice cream sundae ever made was over 12 feet tall and
made with 4,667 gallons of ice cream and 7,000 pounds of topping
in Anaheim, California, in 1985.
3. Vanilla ice cream is made from the vanilla bean.
4. Ice cream is an $11 billion industry.
5. Ice cream novelties such as ice cream on sticks and ice cream bars
were introduce in 1920s.

Simple Plan For Making Ice Cream In A Bag:

Materials Per Group of Students:

1 cup whole milk

¼ tsp vanilla
4 TBSP Sugar
3-4 cups crushed ice or party ice
1 gallon size zip lock bag
1 sandwich size zip lock bag
2 full sheets of newspaper
Duct tape
¼ cup rock salt
1 plastic spoon or a straw
Thermometer that reads to -10 degrees C
Optional: Toppings for the ice cream

Procedure:

1. Mix together the milk, sugar and vanilla. Force out excess air from the Zip
lock bag and zip the bag closed.
2. Add 3-4 cups of crushed ice or chip ice from a block of ice. Take the
temperature of the ice alone using the thermometer. Record all the data for
an average. Add the ¼ cup of rock salt to the ice. Predict what will happen
to the temperature at the end of the test. Record ideas.
3. Place the small Zip lock bag into the large Zip lock bag combined with the
ice and salt. Remove as much excess air as possible and close the large bag.
4. Fold the bag over if needed and place in the middle of the newspaper sheets.
Wrap the bag in the newspaper and tape it with duct tape to hold it in place.
Apply the duct tape both vertically and horizontally. The newspapers act as
an insulator.
5. Shaking it for 5-10 minutes (or playing catch) should allow the mixture to
become solid enough to eat or drink as a shake. Play some upbeat music and
shake it up baby!! NOTE: Vary shake time if this is part of your experiment
question.
6. Unwrap the bag and carefully remove the inside bag from the larger bag. If
rock salt gets into the bag it does not taste good and the rock salt may be
dirty.
7. Take the temperature of the rock salt and ice (water) mixture. Record and
average results. Eat the ice cream while you think about the results.

Ice:

Ice is essential when making ice cream because the mixture must be cooled down
to change from a liquid to a solid.

Questions for discussion or investigation:

1. How was ice made available to the pioneers when they lived in a log cabin?
2. What happens to the temperature of the ice as it melts during this process of
making ice cream?
3. Does shaking the ice cream bags make the ice cream harder at the end of the
process?

Rock Salt:

Rock salt forced the ice mix to melt. The “brine solution” (rock salt and water)
absorbed heat from the mix and gradually lowered the temperature of the mix until
it starts to freeze. We need the ice to lower the temperature below the freezing
temperature of water (32 degrees F) since the mixture for the ice cream will not
freeze until 27 degrees F. Table salt or kosher salt may be used to make the ice
cream however they are more expensive.

Note: Clean the salt off all the metal parts of a freezer if you use one to prevent
corrosion.
Conclusion: While eating the ice cream notice the results of different toppings on
everyone’s ice cream. Why are the results different? (You may want to have some
of the syrups warmer then others.) Enjoy!!!

4. Why do we need the rock salt in the making of the ice cream?

The heat needed to melt the ice comes from the ice cream mix. The ice helps
make the ice melt faster and drops the temperature to that of freezing salt water. (A
lower temperature is needed to freeze salt water then water. Usually eight to 12
degrees lower temperature for the salt water to freeze then the water. The Cl in the
NaCl (sodium chloride – salt) gets between the water molecules and then the spread
apart causing the melting. A large number of students and adults think the
temperature rises when the ice melts instead of the temperature dropping in the
above experiment. NOTE: Make sure they take the temperature of the ice mixture
with a thermometer in the ice area not the ice cream area because we want to keep
the ice cream clean for eating as the end of the experiment.

5. How does putting rock salt on an ice sidewalk cause the ice to melt? Rock salt
dance! The rock salt dance shows the students a visual of how things work. Have
several groups of three students each represent water, two hold an H sign to
represent hydrogen and the middle student holds an O sign which is oxygen. Place
these groups in a given area representing the container of ice. Next add NaCl
groups, two students each hold a sign one Cl and the other Na for the salt or sodium
chloride. When you add the NaCl they break apart and begin moving between the
water molecules and push them apart, making the salt water mixture. Point out
since the water molecules can not get back together as before the ice will not form.

Extension:

Group Melting Activity: Each student needs to complete this process with a
journal response which allows you to assess the understanding of states of matter.

This activity will allow students to envision water molecules and their respective
proximity and speed in each of the different states of matter: Solid, Liquid and Gas.
The music teacher could use this to teach different tempos and volume of music at
the same time if you are able to work out the timing. Exposure to several classical
composers and their respective works could also be applied.

Procedure:

1. Have students form a “solid” by putting a hand on a different persons shoulder.

Each person should be connected “bonded” to two other students. NOTE: Each
hand represents a hydrogen atom and the body represents an oxygen atom. Name
tags representing the atoms on the body parts are optional.

2. Play a recording of Pachabel’s Cannon and note the slow tempo with relatively
low volume. Have the “solid” move to the music to show that molecules in an ice
cube still have a movement. Point out that only at Absolute zero does movement
stop. Absolute zero is approximately -273.6 degrees C (-459.69 degrees F), or zero
degrees on the Kelvin scale (0 K).

3. Slowly increase volume as tempo increases. Have students reflect through

movement the appropriate activity. NOTE: The activity is increasing, but that the
temperature does not increase – ASK – Where is the heat energy going and what is
it doing? Appropriate responses would be that the heat energy is being used to
break the hydrogen “bonds” from one another. The temperature will not increase
until all of the bonds are broken.

4. Change the recording to Ravel’s Bolero and increase the volume. This piece start
out slow and eventually the tempo increases. (You may want to start well into the
song.) Have the students release their bonds from one another using different
increments of the alphabet. (e.g. All people with last names from A-F release now!)
Continue this release while increasing volumes until all participants are separated.
ASK – What state are you now in? Appropriate response would be – a liquid.
NOTE: The increased movement which reflects the tempo and volume of the music.

5. Play Tchaiksky’s Finale from the Fourth Symphony. Note that the tempo is very
fast and the volume should be slightly louder than the last piece. Have the students
move to the music accordingly. ASK – What is the heat energy being used for now?
Appropriate response would be raising the temperature of water to boiling. ASK –
What are the restrictions of a liquid if the room represents the container that the
liquid is in? Appropriate response would be that the liquid is confined to the shape
of the container.

6. Increase the volume another step and explain that “evaporation” is taking place.
The molecules are being released from their liquid state and being broken down into
their gaseous state. ASK – What state are you turning into? Following the same
procedure have the students turn into gas. ASK –What restrictions does a gas have
in regard to the container? Appropriate response would be that there are no
restrictions and that gas may leave the container. Have the students leave the
container and take a five minute break on the play ground area.

Closure:

After the students return, debrief the activity by explaining the different states of
matter. Explain that heat energy was used to break bonds (a physical change) in
order to achieve the next state. Explain that there are rises in temperature and
plateaus in temperature which correlate with the increase of heat and state change
in water; specifically, freezing point and boiling point. NOTE: The rises and
plateaus in temperature as a result of heat energy is the topic of the next activity:
Get Steamed.

GET STEAMED!!!

ONLY PROCEED IF YOUR CLASS MAY USE HOT PLATES.

Students will use the scientific process to design and carry out an experiment with
controls and variables. Graphically display their results of the pattern in
temperature that is discovered.

Procedure:

1. In a group of three to four design an experiment that explores the pattern in

temperature as a solid (ice) is changed to a liquid (water) and then to the boiling
point (steam).

You must formulate a hypothesis as to what the temperature/time pattern will look
like, establish controls, list variables to be tested, design a procedure, gather
materials, perform the experiment, collect data, graph your data, and formulate a
written conclusion based upon your results including variables that may have been
uncontrolled and what you learned from this experiment. HINT; measuring
temperature in shorter time intervals produces a better pattern and always
replicates you’re your experiment – you may get conflicting data which means more
testing to get an average.

2. Each group will present their results and a graph to the rest of the class. From
this information a class graph will be made on the chalkboard illustrating each
groups data.
3. Debrief in journals or with the class about differences in data and different
controls and variables that people used in their experiment. Run a class experiment
with the same controls and variables and compare results.

Materials List:

Hot plate glass stir rod

500 mL beaker graph paper and journal
thermometer stop watch (optional)

Non-verbal group assessment for the states of

matter.

Note: The topics listed below maybe used to assess the areas you have
explored.

1. Students will be assigned to a group.

2. Each group will have 10 minutes to discuss, design, research and practice your
role play that will be done in front of the rest of the class.

3. Students must create a way to illustrate the following for their particular state of
matter:

a. Volume – Is it definite? Does it change easily?

b. Fluidity – Do the particles of your sample flow?
c. Density – Is your sample relatively dense?
d. Compressibility - Does the volume of your sample decrease a great deal with
increased pressure?
e. Dissolving Ability – When you add this substance to a similar substance, does
only one state result after they mix?
f. Diffusability – Does your substance gradually mix because of random motion?
g. Speed of Particles – Do the particles of your sample move relatively quickly?
h. Surface tension – Does your substance exhibit a surface tension?
i. Evaporate or Boil – Does your substance have a tendency to evaporate or
boil?
j. Solidify – Does your substance have a tendency to solidify?
k. Shape – Does your sample have a shape?

Rules:
1. Students may not speak or use written words in any form during their role play.
2. All members of the group must participate in the whole presentation.
3. Students may not use props of any kind.
4. The team will designate one speaker who will describe for the rest of the class
what is being illustrated.
5. Grades will be based upon creativity, participation in the group, completeness,
and the clarity of the concepts presented. Assessments co-developed by Kathleen
Jacobitz and David Crowther.

Simple States of Matter Experiments For Water

Materials needed for this simple investigation are: ice, beakers, ice pops
from a store – not frozen, and a freezer.

Questions:
1. What happens to the water level when an ice pop is frozen?

Mark the top of the liquid with a permanent marker when you are holding the
pop top by one end. Predict what will happen and continue the experiment.
Remember when water is frozen it expands and is less dense then it was in a liquid
state thus if floats.

2. What happens to the water level when ice melts?

Place a cup of water ¾ full or more on a desk in a warm area then add as many ice
cubes as possible but do not over flow the water, mark the water level on the side of
the cup. Will the water level go up or down? It should go down a very small
amount since the water molecule takes up less space when it is a liquid.

Place all responses in the student journals. Have them make a sketch of the water
molecule for fun.
 Student Sheets:
Question/Problem:
Describe the problem or question you or your team are trying to
solve.______________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

Hypothesis:
Describe how you will set up your investigation and what you expect to
learn from it. Identify the constants and the variables in your
investigation.__________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

Materials Needed:
List the materials you need to conduct your
investigation.__________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

Procedure:
List – step by step – the way you will set up your investigation.
1.____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
2.____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
3.____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
4.____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
5.____________________________________________________________
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6.____________________________________________________________
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7.____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
 Talk to your teacher NOW before you begin the
investigation.
Observations/Pictures:
Draw or write about your investigation and what you observed. If you
need more room use the back.

Conclusion:
Write a sentence or two that tells what you proved or discovered in your
investigation.__________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

What new questions do you now have to

investigate?___________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

Record all information in your journal.