Edible Glass

Type of resource: Blogs

Web address

Language: English

Description

Exploring transparency by making edible glass

Scientific concept introduced

Exploring Transparency – investigating the relationship between light and materials

Creative and critical thinking

Critical Thinking:

1. Prediction

Creative Thinking:

1. Imagining

2. Making

Mathematical reasoning

Measuring

Scientific thinking

1. Questioning
2. Comparing
3. Observing
4. Predicting
5. Drawing connections

Learning how to learn

1. Following instructions
2. Active listening
3. Engagement in learning

Additional

1. Cooking skills of stirring and pouring
2. Literacy – vocabulary development
3. Following rules of safety
4. Drawing skills
5. Artistic skills
6. Collaborative skills of turn-taking

Edible Glass

Overall aims

● to enable pupils to explore transparency by making edible glass
● to enable pupils to investigate the relationship between light and materials
● to develop pupils’ skills in listening and following instructions
● to develop pupils’ skills in measuring
● to develop pupils’ cooking skill of stirring and pouring
● to develop pupils’ skills in observing and predicting
● to develop pupils’ skills in drawing connections
● to develop pupils’ skills in turn-taking
● to develop pupils’ creative thinking skills

Vocabulary – keywords should be understood

Transparent, translucent, opaque, glass, clear, light, dissolve, edible, sugar, dissolve, stir

Expected learning outcomes (operational aims)

The child will be enabled to:
● follow instructions for the investigation
● identify objects as transparent or opaque
● identify characteristics of sugar
● practice the skills of pouring and stirring
● practice the skill of measuring using cups
● make observations and predictions during the experiment

STEM skills – to which the learning unit is related to

CORE STEM SKILLS

● Questioning
● Imagining
● Comparing
● Making
● Observing
● Predicting
● Drawing connections
● Measuring

ADDITIONAL SKILLS

● Following instructions
● Active listening
● Cooking skills of stirring and pouring
● Literacy – vocabulary development
● Following rules of safety
● Engagement in learning
● Drawing
● Artistic skills
● Collaborative skills of turn-taking

Teaching methodologies/activity outline

Teacher Note: Recommend starting this activity earlier in the school day, as the melted sugar needs to cool and harden before being able to handle it. Also, this experiment requires close adult supervision and support as the mixture becomes very hot.

Introduction:
1. Ask pupils to look at a wall in the class and tell you what they see outside. Discuss.
(They couldn’t see anything because we can’t see through walls). Similarly, ask pupils to look out the class window and describe what they can see. Discuss. (They could identify what was outside because they could see through the window; This is because windows are made of glass, which allows us to see through it).

2. Explain that things we can see through are called ‘Transparent’ (Transparent objects allow light through so we can clearly see the objects behind them) but if we can’t see through an object, like the wall, it is called ‘opaque’ (Opaque objects don’t allow light through so we can’t see through the object at all).

3. Draw two columns on the board ‘Transparent’ and ‘Opaque’ and ask pupils to suggest objects for each column. (For example: transparent – a window, reading glasses, a drinking glass, a puddle of water/ opaque – a table top, a whiteboard, a chair, a pencil, a ruler).

4. Inform pupils that they are going to make something called Edible glass, from sugar- it looks like glass but it’s not glass, it’s something you can eat. Elicit pupils’ understanding of the characteristics of sugar and discuss.

Activity:
(Ask pupils to work in groups of 5, taking turns)

Materials:
● Measuring cup
● 1 cup sugar
● 1/3 cup water
● 1/3 cup light corn syrup
● A cooking tray
● A saucepan
● Aluminium foil (1 sheet per group)
● Food colouring (optional)

Instructions:
Ask pupils to do the following:
1. Line the cooking tray with the sheet of foil.
2. Place the saucepan over a medium heat.
3. Measure out the sugar and water and pour into the saucepan, stirring well.
Sample question: What do you think will happen to the sugar?
4. Continuously stir the mixture, allowing the pupils to observe the sugar dissolving with the water.
Sample questions: What does the sugar look like now? / What happened to the sugar? (It dissolved)
5. Explain what dissolves means: when you mix a substance with a liquid and it looks like the substance has disappeared but it has just mixed in with the liquid.

6. Next measure out the corn syrup and stir it into the sugar and water mixture.
7. (An adult will need to do this step as the mixture gets very hot, approx. 150 degrees Celsius) Keep stirring until the sugar starts to boil. Then leave the mixture to sit for about 10 to 15 minutes.
8. Add only a few drops of food colouring.
9. Ask an adult to pour your mixture thinly into the pan, spreading it out.
10. Leave it to harden for about 1 to 2 hours.
11. Then ask pupils to carefully lift up their edible glass and look through it. (Note: the edible glass can be transparent or translucent depending on variables such as how much it’s cooked and how much food colouring is used, or sometimes even opaque if too much dark food colouring is added).

12. Ask the class to identify the edible glass for each group as transparent or opaque.

Here you can also introduce the word ‘Translucent’ – when an object is semi-transparent. Translucent objects allow light through but we can’t see detailed shape.

Conclusion:
1. Ask the pupils working individually, to imagine they’re looking through a magic window and to draw what they see through the window.

Assessment of learning

Pupil observation sheet

Equipment and materials to be used in learning unit (tools, ingredients etc)

For Pupils (per group):
● Measuring cup
● 1 cup sugar
● 1/3 cup water
● 1/3 cup light corn syrup
● A cooking tray
● A saucepan
● Aluminium foil (1 sheet per group)
● Food colouring (optional)