Sweet Summer Learning

By Victoria Heatwole
Its summertime and the learning is easy. Whether you school year-round or take a break, the
lazy days of summer lend themselves to a little less structure and a little more fun. Instead of
daily desk work, try an enticing unit study on that fabulous frozen treatice cream!
une is !airy "onth and a #erfect time to launch an ice cream unit study. $fter all, milk is the
most im#ortant ingredient in ice cream. In fact, %& of all dairy cows milk #roduced in the 'nited
(tates is used in ice cream. )ive your students some facts about dairy cows that may astound
them. *or instance, the average dairy cow eats about +, #ounds of feed each day, which is
e-uivalent to ./, cheeseburgers! (he 0and a dairy cow is always a she1 will drink enough water
daily to fill a bathtub. 2his enormous diet kee#s a cow healthy and ha##y and allows her to
#roduce an average of 3 to % gallons of milk #er day. In order to make 4ust one gallon of ice
cream, it takes a##ro5imately one and a half gallons of milk.
6ach year, $mericans consume an average of twenty-three -uarts of ice cream #er #erson. 7ave
your students try to guess the to# five flavors of ice cream in the 'nited (tates. 8anilla is the
favorite flavor, followed by chocolate, butter #ecan, strawberry, and neo#olitan.
While the full history of ice cream is somewhat of a mystery, accounts suggest that the 9oman
6m#eror :ero had servants bring snow and ice from far-off mountains so that he could en4oy an
ice cream-like treat. $le5ander the )reat was also known for his love of snow flavored with nectar
and honey. "arco ;olo tried ice cream while e5#loring <hina and brought the idea back to Italy
with him.
In the 'nited (tates, the first ice cream #arlor o#ened in :ew =ork in >33/. 'ntil about >%,,,
when insulated ice houses were invented, ice cream was mostly en4oyed by the wealthier citizens
of our country. ?ur early ;residents were also known to savor this delicacy. !olley "adison served
strawberry ice cream at her husbands inaugural ball. 2homas efferson #enned a reci#e for vanilla
ice cream, which consisted of cream, egg yolks, and sugar. In >+%@, ;resident 9onald 9eagan
officially designated uly as :ational Ice <ream "onth and the third (unday in uly as :ational Ice
<ream !ay.
(tir u# those brains with some ice cream science. (tudents of all ages will have fun conducting an
e5#eriment to determine how many licks it takes to finish one scoo# of ice cream 0it should take
about fifty licks1. 7ave your students make a hy#othesis about how many licks they think it will
take. !iscuss what variables may affect the e5#eriment 0room tem#erature, tongue size1. 2hen,
let your students en4oy testing their hy#otheses. Warn them that if they lick too -uickly, an ice
cream headache, also known as brain-freeze, may develo#. 65#lain that this condition results from
something cold touching the roof of the mouth, which causes blood vessels in the head to dilate or
enlarge. Auckily, this is only a tem#orary condition.
!emonstrate differences in states of matter by making your own ice cream. $ sim#le way to do
this with kids is the zi##er bag method. =ou will need two -uart-sized #lastic zi##er bags, one
gallon-sized #lastic zi##er bag, one half-cu# of milk, one half-teas#oon of vanilla, one tables#oon
of sugar, four cu#s of crushed ice, and four tables#oons of salt. Begin by mi5ing the milk, vanilla,
and sugar in one -uart bagC then remove as much air as #ossible and seal. ;lace the first -uart
bag into the second -uart bagC then remove as much air as #ossible and seal. :e5t, #lace both
-uart bags into the gallon bag, fill with ice, and s#rinkle the ice with salt. (eal the gallon bag.
(hake for five to eight minutes. =ou may want to use #ot holders or dish towels to #rotect your
hands from the cold as you shake the bags.
=our students may be curious about the need for salt to make ice cream. While they are shaking
the bags, you can e5#lain that salt causes the ice to melt, lowering the tem#erature at which the
ice remains frozen. Because the milk mi5ture is surrounded by the melting ice, it loses heat
energy and becomes colder and harder. $sk your students what state of matter the milk was in at
the beginning and at the end of the ice cream making. If you live in a #lace where winter
tem#eratures di# below freezing, you may also #oint out that salt is #ut down on roads for the
#ur#ose of lowering the freezing tem#erature of #reci#itation so that it melts more -uickly.
6ncourage your students to get creative by discussing some unusual flavors of ice cream. In
a#an, #o#ular flavors of ice cream include s-uid ink and octo#us. ?ther bizarre ice cream
ingredients are sardines, caviar, bacon, s#aghetti, and cheese. $sk your kids to invent a new
flavor of ice cream and name it. 7ave them write the reci#e neatly on an inde5 card for a little
#enmanshi# #ractice.
*or some hands-on fun, allow your students to mi5 u# a new flavor of ice cream using ingredients
from your kitchen. (tart with a #int of chocolate or vanilla ice cream. "icrowave it in ten-second
intervals until it is slightly softened. 2ransfer the ice cream to a large bowl and combine it with
selected ingredients. 2hen transfer the mi5ture to another container with a tight lid. *reeze the ice
cream until solid. 2o avoid ending u# with a batch of #ickle and cornflake ice cream, you may wish
to establish the rule that each #erson must eat his or her ice cream.
*or some longer-lasting ice cream, have fun with a sim#le ice cream cone craft. =ou will need half-
sheets of brown construction #a#er, large colored #om#oms, glue, and scissors. 7ave your
students roll the #a#er into a cone sha#e, glue the edges, and hold for a few minutes until the
glue sets. :e5t, they should cut the wide end of the cone straight across, s#read glue around the
inside, and #lace a #om#om on to# of the glue. $llow the cone to dry. 2hey may wish to add more
#om#om Dscoo#sE and glitter Ds#rinklesE to their ice cream cone.
By the end of this study, your students should have learned something about ice cream and
gotten #lenty sticky in the #rocess. But after all, its summertime, the season of stickiness. (o
en4oy some sticky kisses and send the kids outside to #lay in the s#rinkler.
Victoria Heatwole lives with her husband and two sons on a dairy and poultry farm in the
Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. When she is not homeschooling or farming, Victoria enjoys flying,
reading, and writing. She blogs at www.thetumblingmirth.com.
9esourcesF
science.howstuffworks.com
MakeIceCream.com
www.lancasterfarmlandtrust.org
www.foodchannel.com
www.extension.org
<o#yright G,>G, used with #ermission. $ll rights reserved by author. ?riginally a##eared in the
une G,>G issue of The Old Schoolhouse !aga"ine, the trade magazine for homeschool families.
9ead the magazine free at www.2?("agazine.com or read it on the go and download the free
a##s at www.2?($##s.com to read the magazine on your mobile devices.