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Summary and Objective
Students will understand that liquids can change into solids. Students will participate in a butter making activity and observe what happens to heavy whipping cream when it is shaken in a container (same process as would happen in a churn). Students will experience a change in a familiar food as a result of their own actions. The students will discover the origin of butter (the connection between butter and milk). Most children do not understand how everyday products such as butter were made by hand and not purchased as they are today. They will learn that people had to wait for things longer than today because they didn't buy them but, instead, made things by hand.
Teaching Plan
Step 1.
Pre-activities:Read to students books such as "Milk, From Cow to Carton" by Aliki and "The Milk Makers" by Gail Gibbons for background information on the colonial period.
Step 2.
Discuss with students colonial farm work and chores that were performed daily. If possible, expose children to an authentic butter churn through a museum trip and show them the churns and milk pan associated with this lesson.
Step 3.
Explain to students that although butter might have been used daily, it was usually not made during the summer. Discuss that people didn't buy everything as they do today. Point out that making butter meant that you had to wait for it as you made it by hand with some type of "churn." Have the children examine the items linked to this web site on the left. Ask them to think about how the items were used in making butter.
Step 4.
Students will make butter using the following ingredients;heavy whipping cream (1/2 pint), salt, and bread or crackers. Materials needed are; glass jars with lids or plastic containers with tight lids or wooden churns if accessible.
Step 5.
The procedure is; 1.) Let the cream sit out of the refrigerator for a couple of hours. 2.) Put a small amount of cream in each jar and put the lid on tightly. One jar can be used if the group is small. 3.) Children shake the jars vigorously, checking frequently for evidence of changes (approximately 20-30 minutes). 4.)When butter has formed, remove the butter from the liquid, then salt. 5.) Spread the butter on bread or crackers and taste.
Step 6.
The lesson may be extended by directing students to another classroom activity called, To Everything There Is a Season: Making Butter also found on The American Centuries web site.
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