Please Pass the Cranberry Sauce: The Science of Gels

Thanksgiving is right around the corner. In honor of the holiday, I have decided to include a quick post on the science behind one of the staples of any Thanksgiving feast...cranberry sauce! Making homemade cranberry sauce is a lot of fun and a great way to experiment with the creation of gels. What exactly is a gel? A gel can be thought of as a liquid that acts like a solid. The gel that you are probably most familiar with is Jell-O. The jelly you put on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is also a type of gel. Cranberries and other fruits can be used to make gels and jellies because they contain a gummy substance called pectin. By boiling cranberries in water, we can extract the pectin from them and create a delicious gel known as cranberry sauce! Now that you understand the science, here is a recipe for making the sauce.

Here is what you need:

• 12 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cup water

Here is what you do:
Wash cranberries and pat dry. In a 2-quart saucepan combine sugar, water. If you like you can add a orange rind and juice. Cook, stirring over medium heat, until sugar dissolves. Add cranberries to sugar syrup, bring to a boil, and cook until cranberry skins start to break or pop, about 1 minute. Remove cranberries from the heat and pour into a 3-cup bowl or storage jars with lids to cool. Sauce can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 10 days, or placed in airtight jars in the freezer for up to 3 months. (Leave 1/2-inch space between sauce and jar lid.)

Did you know:
Research has ranked the cranberry as number one in antioxidants. A comparison of some of the most common fruits found that the little red berry — in its pure form — contained the highest quantity of disease-fighting phenols, a type of antioxidant that is believed to reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as cancer, stroke and heart disease.

Name The Next Mars Rover

Are you looking for a unique way to explore the mysteries of the universe with your children? How about your very own Mars rover? OK...so you won't actually own the rover, but you can claim that you named it. Right now, NASA is looking for a name for the its next Mars rover. In fact, NASA, in cooperation with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures' movie WALL-E from Pixar Animation Studios, has organized a contest to find the perfect name! From November 18, 2008 to January 25, 2009, US students (5 - 18 years old) can submit essays explaining why their suggested name for the car-sized Mars Science Laboratory rover should be chosen. Nine finalist names will be selected, 3 from each grade range: k-3, 4-7, 8-12. In March 2009, the public will have an opportunity to rank nine finalist names via the Internet as additional input for judges to consider during the selection process. NASA will announce the winning rover name in April 2009.

What about the prizes? This is a contest, so there must be some prizes. Well, Disney will provide prizes to students submitting winning essays, including a trip to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., where the rover is under construction. If you name is chosen, you will have the opportunity to place your John Hancock on the actually spacecraft. How's that for a place in history?!

The Mars Science Laboratory rover, scheduled for launch in 2009, will be larger and more capable than any craft previously sent to Mars. Even more important, it will check whether the environment on Mars has ever been capable supporting microbial life. The rover will search for minerals that formed in the presence of water and look for several chemical building blocks of life.

So, how about it? Do you have the right stuff...or at least the right name? January 25th is right around the corner. Put that marvelous brain of yours to work and find the right name for the next Mars Rover!

For more information about the contest, click here.

Fun With Discrepant Events - The Sink-Float Egg

Here is another great discepant event demonstration (read more about discrepant events here). It's a classic...the incredible floating/sinking egg. This video is brought to you by two elementary teachers, Hanah & Kacey. Once again...let us know if you use the activity with your students. We would love to hear about your experiences!

Ever Lasting Burger Experiment

Have you ever been cleaning your car and found a McDonald's french fry buried in the seats or just hanging out under the brake pedal. If so, you (like me) have probably wondered...why does it look so fresh? I've always wanted to put together a little experiment to see just how long it would take for a McDonald's french fry to decompose. Well, it looks like Karen Hanrahan had the same idea. However, instead of one of those tasty Mickey D's french fries, she opted to experiment with a McDonald's hamburger. The picture above is the result...a McDonald's hamburger purchased in 1996. I know that you can do the math, but I just have to point it out...1996 was 12 years ago!

Now, I like a bite of fast food as much as the next person, but this has got me really rethinking my choices in cuisine. Read more about the 1996 McDonald's Burger on Karen's blog, Best of Mother Earth. A little bit of science can be very, very enlightening.

Fun With Discrepant Events - The Magic Bottle

The discrepant event is something that surprises or startles the observer. In a science lesson, it is often used in the beginning of a lesson to engage your students and prepare them for a deeper investigation. You've probably experienced discrepant events before. If you have ever been to a magic show or watched a really great special effect, you've probably wondered...how did they do that?! That's how discrepant events work. They leave you wondering about what happened. Believe it or not...your students already have a lot of ideas about the way the world and science works. Experiences that do not fit into your students ideas cause them to rethink those ideas in an attempt to make sense of things. Educational psychologist call this cognitive disequilibrium. In an effort to understand what is going on, students often search for a suitable explanation for the discrepant event. In other words, discrepant events can be used as a valuable tool for inspiring students to explore different topics in science!

Some of my students recently recorded some very easy, but effective discrepant events. With their permission, I am sharing them with you. This first one comes from Aaron and offers a great introduction to air pressure. If you try it with y0ur students, please let us know how it goes. Here at The Wondershop, we always love to hear from teachers.

Celebrate Geography Awareness Week (November 16-22, 2008)

Next week is Geography Awareness Week! The celebration, launched in 1987 by presidential proclamation, is held the third week of each November and promotes the importance of geography education in the United States (click here for more background on Geography Awareness Week). Today's world seems much smaller than it did 20 years ago. The internet and other forms of mass media connect people who live thousands of miles from each other. Many people find themselves traveling around the world for work, to visit family, or just to see someplace new. My son had a passport before he was a year old. I didn't get one until I was in my twenties. The world is becoming interconnected, and geography Awareness Week is about helping to prepare our children for participation in this global community!

The Geography Awareness Week website outlines activities and ideas to explore with your children over the course of the week:

Monday - Human Geography/Cultures
Human geography features people and their activities on Earth. It explores where people live and how they got there. Human geography also examines how people interact with and shape natural environments to create unique places in distinct spaces.

Human geography includes many facets of our lives here on Earth—culture (religion, language, ethnicity), conflict, population dynamics, movement of people and goods, natural resources, land-use, economic and political systems, globalization, and international development.

Tuesday - Physical Geography/Environments
Physical geography includes the patterns and processes of Earth's natural features. Physical geography studies how environmental phenomena—climate, landscapes, soils, oceans, environmental hazards, and the distribution of plants, animals, and natural resources—change over space and time.

Wednesday - Geotechnology
Geospatial technology involves the use of tools, like global positioning systems (GPS) and geographic information systems (GIS), to organize, analyze, and display information that is "georeferenced" or linked to specific locations.

If you've ever used Google Earth to look at your house, then you've had experience with geospatial technology. You might also have used a hand-held or car-mounted GPS device to help find your way, or seen a remotely sensed image taken by a weather satellite. Geospatial technologies help us visualize and navigate our space on Earth.

Thursday - Global Hotspots
Global hotspots are places where conflict or change—in environments, cultures, politics, climate, or population—have created new pressures and uncertainties in today's world. Geography can help us understand these challenges and why they occur. With this knowledge, we can work to reduce or solve them.

Friday - Careers
Geography is something you can study, like math, science or history, but it's also a set of skills you can use in many different careers. From doctors to shipping experts, teachers to traffic consultants, a wide range of professionals all use geography in their jobs.

The website also offers a lot of great information for parents, teachers, and children to explore. Don't miss out on this great opportunity to introduce your children to the world. Celebrate Geography Awareness Week!

Going Green At School

When I was in school (decades ago), a green school was simply a school with green walls. Well, times have changed...somewhat. In today's world, green schools are planting gardens and green spaces, installing solar panels, conserving water, using eco-friendly cleaning products, and educating students about critical environmental issues. Many school districts are considering the ecological impact of schools before they build them. As a result, the construction of many schools follows strict environmental guidelines. We are definitley moving in the right direction. The movement, unfortunately, is slow.

Many schools understand the pressing need to go green. However, most teachers and principals are focused on the task of raising test scores. Going green usually slips to the bottom of the priority list. As more and more schools decide to adopt green strategies, there is evidence that the benefits of a green school go beyond the issues related to global warming. As Jill Tucker writes an article in the San Francisco Chronicle:

"Ultimately, all this provides a healthier learning environment, which in
turn improves student learning, educators have found. As an added bonus,
energy costs go down and the Earth is better off."

Schools consume a lot of resources. Just think about all of the paper that flows into and out of a school. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, waste from schools and other institutions accounts for approximately 35 to 45 percent of all municipal solid waste. On average, up to 80 percent of a school’s waste stream can be recovered, and about half of that is paper. In terms of energy use, K-12 schools account for approximately 7 percent of all energy used by commercial buildings. That's about $6 billion every year!

So what can you do? Sometimes small changes can have big effects! Think about what you can do in your home, classroom, school, or community to move us all closer to an ecologically friendly world. For example, eighth grade science teacher, Kenny Luna, has been working with his student to combat global warming. Their idea: Give every child in America (PreK-12), just ONE Compact Fluorescent(CFL) bulb to plug in at home. According to Mr. Luna, "This will help fight global warming by reducing carbon emissions from power plants, save the U.S. AT LEAST $2.3 BILLION in electricity costs, and help put America on the path to environmental sustainability." You can read more about the project at thebrightidea.blogspot.com. You can also find a link to Mr. Luna's latest project, The Great Copy Machine Epidemic (aimed at reducing global warming by reducing copy machine use). Both of these projects has had a lasting and far-reaching influence on our world. Like Mr. Luna, I am sure that you and your children have some great ideas about how we can Green-up our communities. Here are some tips to get you started:

Encourage your students to bring Waste Free Lunches: By packing waste-free lunches, your students can greatly reduce the amount of trash being tossed in the cafeteria trash cans. Instead of a paper bag, encourage students to bring lunch in a lunch box or reusable bag. Swap out the napkins for a washcloth to wipe their face and hands with. Finally, avoid the prepackaged foods and try packing fresh fruits and homemade foods such as sandwiches. Go to Waste Free Lunches (www.wastefreelunches.org) for more information on how to Go Green at lunch!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: The 3R's! When it comes to school...it's all about paper, paper, and more paper. Before using the copy machine, ask yourself, "Do I really need a copy of this?" Consider using both sides of paper before throwing it away. In fact, some teachers keep scrap paper boxes in their classrooms where students can place a paper that has a clean side to write on. Finally, instead of throwing away papers that cannot be used again, recycle.

Green Fundraisers: As a kid, I sold everything from chocolate bars to gift wrap to heat-and-eat pizza...door to door...as a part of a school fundraiser. Some environmentally conscious parents and schools have decided to look for greener solutions to fundraising. Instead of cookie dought, their children are selling fair trade chocolate and coffee, energy-saving product, and recycled greeting cards. If you would like more information about these and other fundraising ideas, check out Greenraising.com, GreenBenefits, or this article at Co-op America on Green School Fundraisers. Just think how good you will feel when you invite your co-workers to support your children's school by buying some fair trade crafts!

Shut It Off: Encourage your students to turn off the lights and unused electronics whenever they leave a room to help save energy. Finally, your students can help conserve water by making sure that the faucets are not dripping or left on in the bathroom, and that the toilets do not continue to run longer than they should.

Just a couple of ideas of the brilliant ideas teachers, parents, and students have come up with to help their schools and communities become greener. If you have ideas or resources, please don't hesitate to share them. Here at The Wondershop, we believe that good science is shared!

More Resources

Center for Ecoliteracy: www.ecoliteracy.org
EarthDay Network - Green Schools: www.earthday.net/greenschools
Go Green Initiative: www.gogreeninitiative.org
The Green Schools Initiative: www.greenschools.net
The Healthy Schools Network: www.healthyschools.org

National Evironmental Education Week: www.eeweek.org