Making Science Real

......Teaching and learning science in the real world

Holiday Hardtack Candy - A Chemistry Lab

It’s December.  School is crazy – assemblies, upcoming exams. Kids are crazy. Life is crazy. You’re wishing the last week would go by quickly and smoothly. Students are just wishing for some fun.

So – what can  you do with Chemistry classes for a fun winter holiday celebration?

Make hardtack candy.

 

Blue Raspberry Hardtack Candy
Candy In A Can

SAFETY FIRST:

  • Just as with any lab, chemical splash goggles. aprons. closed-toe shoes are non-negotiable.
  • If you are working in a lab, provide food-use spoons (I borrow from the home ec room) and paper plates to lay the spoons and candy thermometers on between stirrings and neasurements.
  • Bunsen burners work better than hot plates if you are working in lab.

MATERIALS:

Students bring their choice of flavoring. I provide sugar, corn syrup, wax or parchment paper, food coloring, powdered sugar, and baggies to take their candy home.

When my classes made candy in the lab, we used #10 cans scavenged from the cafeteria to cook. Now, we use 4-6 quart pots that live in the home ec room.

Sour Apple Candy

I’ve started using this hardtack candy lab as our final exam by adding questions related to the candy or tt topics we’ve learned about that apply to the ingredients. Solubility,mm solubility curves, solution concentrations, Lewis structure of water, polarity, and even electron configurations of carbon and oxygen make good questions. You can use whatever topics you’ve already learned about.

If you don’t want to start from scratch with this lab,you can find the lab, slides and guided notes on solubility, and assorted editable application questions for an assessment right here:

Holiday Hardtack Candy Chemistry Lab

Let me know how it works for you!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Subscribe for teaching tips, strategies, freebies, and updates!

Subscribe for teaching tips, strategies, freebies, and updates!