Classroom Activities
Part One
I will read Pancakes, Pancakes by Eric Carle to build anticipated interest in learning about pancakes. We will have guided discussion about what the ingredients were that the mother in the story used to make her son a pancake. I will use an anchor chart to write down the students’ responses. This chart will be our reference each time we discuss an ingredient.
After I have read the story, we will have a discussion about food allergies. I will ask if they know someone who cannot eat certain foods due to having a food allergy. Then we will return back to the anchor chart and discuss what may be possible allergens. I will ask my students what is the main ingredient in a pancake. After they have successfully stated flour, we will discuss the properties of flour, in particular wheat flour. They will learn that wheat contains gluten which is a protein that provides pancake dough the structure it needs. As a class, we will discuss that some people are not able to consume wheat because it causes them to have an allergic reaction.
Wheat flour substitution activity
The next time I see my students, we will review from the anchor chart the ingredients in a traditional pancake. As a whole group, we will discuss possible wheat flour substitutes. I will display almond, coconut, oat, and wheat flours. Students will create a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the physical properties of each flour using their five senses to analyze the different flours.
Binding activity
After we have discussed wheat substitutions, I will demonstrate the importance of eggs as a binder in pancakes. I will ask the class what they believe the role of an egg is in pancakes. I will make a pancake that contains wheat flour, milk, and baking soda. Students will observe the eggless pancake and discover that the egg is what helps bind the other ingredients. To further explain the idea of a binding agent, I will ask them what can they use to bind two pieces of paper together. Student responses may include tape, mayonnaise, or glue. A teacher never knows the vivid imagination of their students. After discussing the characteristics of a binder, students will work in groups of four to brainstorm what foods can be added to a pancake in place of an egg to serve as a binder. The idea behind this activity is to get my students to understand that in baking, cooks go through trial and error to determine what works in recipes.
Leavening agent activity
Before students make their own pancakes substituting different flour and binders, students need to understand what makes a pancake rise. I will demonstrate a concept they are already familiar with which is the chemical reaction between baking soda and vinegar. I will explain to them that the vinegar is an acid, a chemical that can be described as being sour or tangy. I will further explain that baking soda is a base, a chemical that is bitter in taste. I will ask the students what they think the vinegar and baking soda produces when they are combined. We will discuss that the bubbles they see being formed are carbon dioxide. After that, I will set up an experiment where students will predict which unknown chemicals combined with known acids will produce bubbles (carbon dioxide).
Students will be asked to predict what two ingredients they think cause the chemical reaction. Without me telling my students what each powder is, students will be given cups containing baking powder and baking soda along with other miscellaneous white powders. Using a work mat and a spoon, students will place each of the powders on individual circles on the work mat. Students will be asked to apply acids such as yogurt, buttermilk, lemon juice, and vinegar to each circle and observe if a chemical reaction takes place. Based off their prediction of what they know is in a pancake, they will realize that baking soda or baking powder along with an acid like buttermilk causes a chemical reaction in pancakes.
Objective: To determine what two ingredients cause a chemical reaction in pancakes.
Materials:
Work mat worksheets with three circles for the reactions and spoons
Containers of unknown chemicals marked with colored dots that contain baking soda, baking powder, corn starch, and talcum powder
acids: buttermilk, lemon juice, and vinegar
Procedures:
1. Predict what unknown chemicals will produce a reaction when combined with the acids.
2. Place baking powder on each circle on the work mat.
3. Add buttermilk on the first circle. Observe what happens.
4. Write down in notebook what you observed.
5. Repeat the first four steps for the other acids.
Work Mat example of red dot which is baking soda
Part Two
After students have completed part one activities, students will work with a partner using the engineering design model to create a pancake that contains a substitute for wheat flour and eggs.
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