Science in Cooking - How to Teach Science While Cooking

Cooking is a beautiful tool to teach children science. Science can be tricky business, particularly because science is about seeing, experiencing and experimenting. Without these, it is difficult to appreciate why things happen and how they happen.

The best way to reflect how to teach science with cooking or while cooking is by using examples. Here are a 3 science questions to show how cooking can become an easy tool to teach simple science principles which perhaps the science lab could make it look like just another experiment.

Question 1

Mr. Butter Cake's class plans to bake a butter cake. Which of the following do you think is a science question that could be investigated while baking the cake? (A) Measuring the amount of flour and sugar? (B) Mixing and beating the batter? (C) Do butter cakes need baking powder to rise? (D) How much does it cost to make 2 butter cakes? The answer is C. We need baking powder to make a cake rise. Explanation: How does baking powder work? How does baking powder make the cake rise? Baking powder produces carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a gas that will 'push' the batter side-ways and upward. They raise baked products. Flat cakes and biscuits don't look very tempting! Baking powder contains both baking soda and a dry acidic ingredient. Generally, 1 teaspoon of baking powder can be used for 1 cup of flour to help your cake rise.

Question 2

This question is about our senses. It is about looking, tasting, smelling and feeling.

Vinegar - Colorless, Sour, Wine, Watery - Liquid

Olive Oil - Yellow, No Taste, Wine, Oily - Liquid

Lemonade - Colorless, Sweet, Lemons, Watery - Liquid

Baking soda - White, Bitter, No smell, Dry powder

Which of Ann's senses allows her to differentiate baking soda from the other substances?

Answer: Sight, Taste, Touch

Explanation: Children, in the first few grades learn about their senses and what they mean. Teachers would teach them about the 5 senses - Sight, Smell, Touch, Hear and Taste and would typically vary the questions to make children understand what they mean. In the kitchen, this comes to live. All the above substances and more are available in the kitchen. Make the kids smell, touch, look and taste. Perhaps for older kids, tell them about the nervous system and how information is passed to the brain.

Question 3

Anna would like to drink some tea. She starts by boiling some water. Describe what happens to the water when she boils it? What happens if Anna places a metal lid above a pot of boiling water?

Answer: Water when boiled becomes steam. Steam or mist is invisible or colorless and tasteless. But when you place a metal lid above the boiling pot of water, the steam becomes water again. The processes are called evaporation and condensation.

The process of liquid turning into gas is called evaporation
The process of gas turning into liquid is called condensation

Similarly, lots of everyday cooking actions is actually about science. You can turn your kitchen into a science lab and the best part is the kids will not know it. They are learning just as much in the kitchen and parents are helping kids remember better by allowing them to experience and see how science works in real life. Teaching kids while cooking creates a great opportunity to teach school work plus there is an added bonus. Kids and parents bond and build memories.

Teaching children can come in different forms. Cooking complements the formal learning process. Kay has 2 children which have benefited from the cooking process which prompted her to share her experience with as many parents and care givers. Harv Kay has dedicated a blog on providing tips, methods, recipes, information and basically a resource area for teaching kids with cooking. Harv is keen to share experiences and in particular to spread the word through her blog