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Then and Now: Ice Cream

Line of Inquiry:
Inventions have been made that impact the things we do.

The Fire Group  expressed interest in how things were made in the past and how they are made today.  During our formative assessment, Grace asked how  ice cream was made a long time ago. 
The bag was getting heavy.
 Today, we looked at how ice cream was made in the past . What the children really wanted to know was how long did it take to make the ice cream before it was ready to eat. 
We didn't have an old fashioned ice cream churn but we did have ziplock bags and ice.  The making of ice cream began.

In a small ziplock bag, we combined 1/2 cup whole milk, 1/2 cup whipping cream, and 2 TBSP of sugar and sealed the bag. In the larger ziplock, we placed 1/2 cup of salt and ice filling about half the bag. The smaller bag was placed inside the larger one, it was sealed and the shaking began.
It was a group effort as the children found it tiring. Finding her hands getting cold, Sophie decided to get her gloves.   Grace and Alan felt that making ice cream was more like exercise. Making ice cream took longer and was harder than the children originally thought.
The first to wear gloves.
All of the children followed.

 The children predicted that using the machine to make ice cream would be much easier.  They found  their prediction to be correct. All of the children concluded that the electronic ice cream maker was a great invention. They had time to play  and that they weren't tired when the machine was doing the work. Their conclusions led us to talk about how inventions have changed and impacted our lives. It was really interesting to hear the children's perspective as to what inventions are important:
Sophie: bathrooms 
Alan: the iPad
Oliver: ice cream makers.

 We will continue with this line of inquiry next week.
Finally getting to enjoy the ice cream!!!

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