Milk Mixer

What happens when you add a few drops of food coloring to water? What about milk? What happens when you put some soap on the end of a toothpick and gently touch the surface of the milk containing the drops of food coloring? Let's just say, it gets pretty psychedelic.

It's the chemical reaction between the fat in the milk and the soap that causes everything to swirl around, so we decided to compare the effects of using heavy cream, 3%, and 1% milk.

As if we didn't already have our hands full tie-dying milk, we took some non-soapy cream, shook it up inside a glass jar, and made some creamy delicious butter.

Our conclusion: Milk fats are yummy and fun!

Biology: Testing for organic compounds

This week we discussed organic compounds. First we dispelled any myths about organic compounds being any healthier than regular old compounds. Likewise, if someone tries to charge you more money for an organic compound, don't fall for it! In chemistry, organic means relating to living things and containing lots of carbon atoms.

We used chemical and physical tests to find out whether the 6 foods in question (water, chicken soup, sucrose (table sugar and water), egg, margarine, and bread crumbs solution) contain proteins, fats, or carbohydrates (starches or glucose).