Mixing and Unmixing in the Kitchen

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In this chemistry investigation, learners combine common cooking substances (flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, pepper, oil, water, food coloring) to explore mixtures. Both homogeneous (whole thing looks the same) and heterogeneous (looks different in different sections) mixtures are created. Static electricity is used to separate salt from pepper. Soap is used to make oil and water mix. Baking powder (an inhomogeneous mixture) is mixed with water to produce a gas. The activity was designed as a kit that could be checked out of a library, but can be done without the kit.

Quick Guide

Preparation Time:
Under 5 minutes
Learning Time:
10 to 30 minutes
Estimated Materials Cost:
$10 - $20 per student
Age Range:
Ages 4 - 8
Resource Types:
Activity, Experiment/Lab Activity
Language:
English

Materials List (per student)

  • 1 
bottle
 of 
salt
  • 1
 bottle
 of
 soap
  • 1
 bottle
 of 
pepper
  • 1
 bottle
 of 
oil
  • 2 pieces of wax paper
  • 1
 bottle
 of 
food
 coloring
  • 1
 sugar
 cube
  • 1
 paper 
plate
  • 1
 lipstick
  • 4
 plastic 
test 
tubes 
w/
caps
  • 1
 balloon
  • water (hot and cold)
  • flour
  • notebook and pen/pencil
  • 1 pipette
  • 2 teaspoons of baking powder
  • ingredients for muffins (optional)

Keywords

Subjects

  • Physical Sciences
    • Electricity and Magnetism
      • Electric Charges and Currents
    • Chemistry
      • Chemical Reactions
      • Solutions
    • States of Matter
      • Solids
      • Liquids
      • Gases
      • Changes of Phase
    • Structure and Properties of Matter
      • Atomic Structure
      • Elementary Particles and Nuclear Physics
  • The Nature of Science
    • The Scientific Process
      • Asking Questions
      • Conducting Investigations
      • Gathering Data
      • Formulating Explanations
      • Communicating Results

Informal Categories

  • Food and Cooking

Audience

To use this activity, learners need to:

  • see
  • see color
  • touch

Learning styles supported:

  • Uses STEM to solve real-world problems
  • Involves hands-on or lab activities

Other

Components that are part of this resource:

This resource is part of:

Access Rights:

  • Free access

By:

  • Shaw, Maisie ; Gomez, Maria

Rights:

  • All rights reserved, Passport to Chemistry Adventure Program, Mount Holyoke College, 2010

Funding Source:

  • Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc.