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Science Unit:
Science of Cooking
Lesson 1:
Science of Bread and Butter
School Year:
2010/2011; 2012/2013
Developed for:
McBride Elementary School, Vancouver School District
Sir Wilfrid Laurier Elementary School, Vancouver School District
Developed by:
Ingrid Sulston (scientist); Christy Wong and Kecia Boecking (McBride teachers);
Patricia Ellis and Barbara Duncan (Laurier teachers)
Grade level:
Presented to grades K-3; appropriate for grades K – 7 with age appropriate
modifications
Duration of lesson:
1 hour and 20 minutes
Notes:
If the oven is not in the classroom where this lesson takes place, a second adult is
needed to leave the class and check on the baking process.
Objectives
1. Learn a basic bread recipe, and become familiar with some fundamental ingredients and cooking
methods.
2. Discover the science behind bread making and butter making. These lessons investigated the living
things involved in bread-making and the changes in states of matter during cooking.
3. Link science with the everyday act of cooking and eating.
Background Information
The science of cooking is a rich topic with so many links to the familiar meals we prepare and eat every
day. Some simple cooking recipes can be done in classrooms with minimal equipment (e.g. the butter
recipe here). With an oven or stove-top in the school, many more cooking activities are possible.
Voc ab ul ar y
Yeast:
A living thing (a fungus) used in baking.
Dough:
A thick mixture of ingredients that is kneaded, shaped and baked.
Kneading:
To mix and work, by folding, pressing and stretching.
Molecules and
atoms:
Tiny particles that make up everything around us. Molecules and atoms are too
small to see individually, but with enough of them together they make objects we can
see. Several atoms are bonded together to make a molecule.
Solid:
A state of matter. the molecules in a solid are packed tightly together. Solids keep
their shape (even in a granular solid, the individual grains keep their shape).
Liquid:
A state of matter. The molecules in liquids are free to move but remain close to each
other. Liquids can change shape, but always take up the same amount of space.
Gas:
A state of matter. The molecules in gases are free to move apart from each other.
Gases spread out to fill the container they are in.
State change:
A change between any of the states of matter e.g. liquid to gas.
Chemical reaction:
A chemical reaction occurs when molecules break apart and their atoms rearrange
to make new molecules. Sometimes the new molecules are a different state of
matter, so the chemical reaction involves a state change.
Science of Cooking_Lesson 1
SRP0224
