Besides being just plain fun, making butter is a great way to demonstrate one of the many ways food is made, as well as how liquids can be converted into solids. You can get more in depth and use the lesson to demonstrate phase change.
INSTRUCTIONS
Divide students into groups of 4-5. Each group will need a 2 oz. container with a tight sealing lid, 1.5 oz. of heavy cream, and a paper towel.
Students should pour 1.5 oz. of heavy whipping cream into the 2 oz container. Make sure there is air space in the container and then seal with lid tightly.
To add variability to the experiment, have half of the students add 1/4 tsp of salt to their containers with the cream.
Before students begin shaking the container, have them hypothesis about what they think will happen. Consider these questions: How much time will they need to shake the container before butter is formed? Does the force and speed of the shaking make a difference? Does temperature matter? Will the salt affect the butter making process?
Record their responses on the board.
Have different groups shake their containers at different rates. Record findings.
