Campfire science

The last weekend before school starts is here… I do not know about you, but I am not allowed to say the “s” word quite yet in my household.

Where did summer go? To be completely honest, this summer is what I needed. I had a wonderful summer, I feel rejuvenated and ready to get back to sharing my love of science and education with pretty much anyone who will listen to me!

All joking aside, it is time to hit the books, and do not forget about Praxis this school year. We have some amazing things we are planning for, so keep reading each and every week so you do not miss out on the wonders of science.

As this may be the last weekend to get away in the outdoors, here is a little campfire science to get you thinking about school. Let’s get started!

Remember to ask an adult before doing this experiment.

Materials

• Adult helper

• Camp fire

• Bag of marshmallows

• Roasting stick

• Plate

Procedure

• Have an adult get the campfire going and supervise this experiment at ALL times to keep you safe.

• Once the campfire has a nice coal bed, have an adult put a marshmallow on a roasting stick.

• I know that you may not like this step, but it is ESSENTIAL as you are not going to eat this. Hold the marshmallow close the coal bed and allow it to roast until it is BLACK.

• Make some observations as you are cooking your marshmallow.

• Carefully remove the marshmallow from the fire and place it on the plate. The marshmallow will be HOT so be very careful.

• Place an uncooked marshmallow on the plate beside the cooked one.

• Make some observations.

• What do you notice?

• Enjoy the rest of the marshmallows how you like them!

What is going on?

You are not just allowing a marshmallow to burn in this activity. This is science at its best! Chemistry is happening right before your eyes. Marshmallows are made out of mostly sugar. As the sugar burns, and the chemical reaction is occurring, water vapour is released. If you made some observations, you would have realized that the marshmallow grew quite a bit. This is because as the marshmallow continues to roast, water vapour is no longer able to escape through those burnt crusty edges, it is pushed inside and instead the marshmallow grows!

Mark your calendars, the Praxis AGM will be held on Friday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. at the Kiwanis Centre in Medicine Hat. We are always looking for board members and volunteers. We would love to have you join us, please email or call for more details on attending.

Patty Rooks, Senior Scientific Consultant PRAXIS, “Connecting Science To The Community”. Contact with Praxis at praxis@praxismh.ca, www.praxismh.ca, Tweet or follow us @PraxisMedHat, or friend us on Facebook. Address: #12 826 11 Street S. E., Medicine Hat, Alberta, T1A 1T7 Phone: 403.527.5365, email: praxis@ praxismh.ca