English Language Arts: Some Favorite Recipes

Mathematics

For this project the third graders studied mass and volume. Cooking requires the ability to measure and weigh solids and liquids. The students first learned about mass. They explored mass using balance scales, spring loaded scales, and digtal scales. They practiced these skills using pumpkins and everyday objects. They explored volume by making their own liter graduated cylinders out of pop bottles. Students further honed their abilites by making jello and then choclate pudding. They had to carefully weigh out the exact number of grams of jello powder and then measure out the correct milliliters of water. The pudding assignment was like the jello one. The students could easily determine if they had used the correct measurements when they observed their finished product. The final project for mass and volume was to create a lava lamp out of kitchen ingredients. The students had to measure the volume of water, oil, and food coloring needed to make the perfetly balanced lamp.