Classroom Activities
Honeycomb Candy
PREP TIME:
5 Minutes
DIFFICULTY:
Easy
COOK TIME:
10 Minutes
SERVINGS:
16 Servings
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1/4 cup Corn Syrup
- 2 Tablespoons Honey
- 1/2 cup Water
- 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
INSTRUCTIONS
Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper. It doesn’t need to sit neatly in the pan, since the honeycomb candy will weigh it down later.
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, add sugar and give it a shake so it lays flat in the pan. Add corn syrup, honey, and water, so all of the sugar has been moistened, but do not stir. Turn the heat to medium high, and watch closely as the sugar starts to dissolve and the ingredients start to meld together.
Cook the mixture to 300 ºF, which should take about 5–10 minutes depending on the strength of your stove, then remove the pan from the heat. Whisk in the baking soda for about 5 seconds, and once it has stopped foaming up, immediately pour the mixture onto the parchment paper. Let cool for 1 hour until hardened, then whack the honeycomb with a knife to break into pieces.
Immediately store any uneaten honeycomb in an airtight container, otherwise it will absorb moisture from the air and soften. Enjoy!
Note: Honeycomb will keep for 3–4 days at room temperature in an airtight container.
Three States of Matter Using Water
First, you will explain what the three states of matter are (please see content section). Then you will show the students that water will start out as an ice cube, then melt into water and finally evaporate into a gas. For this activity, you will need some kind a heat source (i.e. burner, induction burner, Bunsen burner), one pan and each student with a science notebook. They will use the science notebook (see content) to practice the scientific process while also learning about the three states of matter.
Designing an Ice Cube and Heat Transference
Teach students first about heat transference (see content); next you will have students design an ice cube in groups where each group gets one cup of liquid water to start. After the groups have designed their ice cube, all groups will compete to see whose ice cube lasts the longest before becoming a liquid. You will have each group make 3 ice cubes and then each group places one of their cubes in the exact same conditions as the other groups. One cube will be subject to each form of heat transference.
After each cube faces all three forms of heat transference, groups will be allowed to meet and redesign another cube based on what they have observed in order to engineer another cube that may hold up better to the heat.
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