Name of Assignment: Ice Cream Lab Subject: Chemistry Facilitator/Teacher: Ms. S
Description of Work/Assignment:
In this assignment, we got to make ice cream in (approximately) 10 minutes. We had to bring in half-and-half cream, rock salt, ice, bags, vanilla extract, sugar, and a towel. We combined the half-and-half, rock salt, vanilla, and sugar in the smaller plastic bag, then filled the bigger one with ice and put the smaller bag inside. We then had to shake the bag for 10+ minutes until the cream reached an ice cream-like consistency.
Which 21st Century Skill do you feel this assignment addresses, and why?
This assignment addressed my "interpersonal" skill because I had to communicate with my group and work out who was bringing what, then make last-minute arrangements when someone couldn't bring something. We also had to problem-solve as a group when the bag holding the ice ripped, and again when we spilt the entire bag of (mostly melted) ice onto the floor, my chair, and me.
What are you most proud of from this assignment, and why?
There wasn't a ton that I was proud of, but the ice cream did taste pretty good considering we made it from shaking a couple bags with ice for ten minutes. It was also just kind of fun because one of my group mates and I were alternating shaking the bag and losing feeling in our hands. It was really just a fun day and I bonded more with a couple of people I don't talk to very frequently.
How did you develop and/or improve upon your 21st Century Skill with this assignment?
Well, for starters, I've never made ice cream before, and certainly not like this, so it was a general learning experience for everyone in my group. We all had to make adjustments as a group so that we could complete the lab and do it correctly.
What was most difficult about completing this task?
The constant shaking of the bag that was required to actually make the ice cream was really hard. We had a towel to hold the bag with so our hands didn't get cold, but our bag broke so the towel was soaked. We couldn't feel our hands and could only spend about a minute-and-a-half at a time shaking the bag before we had to pass it on to someone else.
How could you improve this work? If you could start over, what would you do differently?
I would bring a couple of back-up bags and more ice so that we wouldn't repeat some of the problems we had the first time. I would also make sure we were more aware of where the open bag was so that we wouldn't spill the water everywhere and have to clean up that mess as well.
How does this relate to what you have learned in the past?
I don't think this relates to anything I've learned in the past. I could be wrong, but I don't think I've ever learned why this experiment works before this year.
How can you apply this to future learning?
I don't know how much of this is going to be useful in my classes, but I can confidently say that I know how to make pretty good quick-make ice cream. I do understand how sodium chloride affects the melting point of ice and the rest of the science behind it though, which will aid me both in other chemistry classes and my career.