The Science of Baking with the Hummingbirds

Today the Hummingbirds had a wonderful Science Day—baking banana muffins which they enjoyed and shared with their friends in the Robins class. Baking incorporates many scientific concepts into a delicious, hands-on learning experience.

What We Did:

The children worked together to follow a multi-step recipe. Students prepared ingredients, including cutting and mashing bananas. They took turns measuring, mixing, and stirring them into the batter. They wore appropriate safety gear (aprons) and used a variety of tools (bowls, spoons, measuring cups).

What We Learned:

We practiced making observations, using our sense of sight, touch and even smell to investigate the ingredients and we communicated what we noticed. For example, vanilla was the most popular scent.

We compared different ingredients, such as wet and dry ingredients, and how they changed over time when we mixed them together and our dry ingredients became wet and dissolved.

We learned about states of matter and how they change when we melted butter and about reactions when we saw how the baking powder and baking soda made our muffins get big and fluffy.

Why This Matters:

We aim to introduce students to the scientific process and the essential skills that support it, such as observation, prediction, classification and inference. Children will learn to use their senses to observe, compare, and sort objects, and begin to understand basic science concepts like cause and effect, and properties of materials. Ultimately, the goal is to foster curiosity, a love for learning, and the ability to ask questions.