The Arizona STEM Acceleration Project

STEMonade

Practicing ratios, measurements, and basic chemistry with lemonade

STEMonade

A 4th-6th Grade STEM Lesson

Linsey Poirier

4/17/2023

Notes for Teachers

This lesson can be adjusted to focus more on a particular concept. In the interest of time, each concept pretty much only has the surface scratched but could be expanded. For example, students could take exact measurements of the water temperatures, amounts of water and sugar used until saturation point etc. for chemistry and data collection to get more focus. Other lemonade recipes could show more ratios and more questions could be asked. It can also be used as a fairly safe introduction to lab rules and procedures.

List of Materials

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Lemon juice

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Water, hot, iced, and room temperature

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Sugar

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Measuring cups

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Measuring spoons

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Large bowls

Standards

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▪ Apply scientific knowledge and evidence to explain real-world phenomena, examples, or events.

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Crosscutting concepts of cause and effect, stability and change, scale, proportion, and quantity, energy and matter.

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Physical Science:

5.P1U1.2

Plan and carry out investigations to demonstrate that some substances combine to form new substances with different properties and others can be mixed without taking on new properties.

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Mathematical Practices:

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MP.4 Model with mathematics.

MP.5 Use appropriate tools strategically.

MP.6 Attend to precision.

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Objective(s):

SWBAT recognize that warmer temperatures of water make higher saturation points.

SWBAT use measurement tools correctly.

SWBAT define and give examples of solution, homogeneous, solute and solvent.

SWBAT use basic ratios.

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Agenda

This lesson uses lemonade to touch on some chemistry basics, measurement and ratios.

Discuss basics of ratios

Lay out large bowls of iced water, room temperature water, and warm / hot water as well as a bowl of sugar.

Students complete this.

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Intro/Driving Question/Opening

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How can we use ratios in everyday life?

What is a solution?

How does water temperature affect saturation point?

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Hands-on Activity Instructions

• Students work in groups of 2-4.
• Use this as a guide.
• Students use the measuring cups to get their 3 temperatures of water and sugar. We used one cup for each water and two cups of sugar.

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Students use the measuring spoons to dissolve sugar into different temperature waters and observe different saturation points.

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Students create simple syrup.

Students make lemonade.

Assessment

Informal observation of the use of measuring cups and measuring spoons.

Discussion as the lesson proceeds.

This sheet - should be turned in.

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Differentiation

Students can be grouped with helpful partners.

Teacher can have pre-measured ingredients.

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Remediation

Extension/Enrichment

More complicated questions could be asked for any portion.

Different lemonade recipes can be used for more complicated ratios.

Students can play with amounts of each ingredient and calculate their exact favorite ratio of lemonade.