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additional information, please e-mail: promotion@wqed.org
BrainFood
is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s
Office of Innovation and Improvement to promote middle school
math and science education. The 30 minute show uses cooking and
food to explore the show’s theme, “Density”.
The
Mid-Atlantic chapter of the National Television Academy awarded
the show an Emmy for Outstanding Youth Programming on September
13, 2003.
The
show opens with an explanation of density; how heavy something
is compared to how big it is. Making pickles is a great way to
explain density. How? By making ‘veggie critters’ and
putting them in a simple brine. Some sink, some float and some
hover in the middle – all depending on their density.
Next,
BrainFood ventures out into the real world with stops at a variety
store, biscotti company and ice cream parlor to find density at
work. Bread, biscotti, ice cream and lobsters are all great examples
of density.
Back
in the studio, we play chef by using density to create fancy designs
on top of soup. How do the designs float – it’s density
at work! The same principle is used to create salad dressing,
with oil floating on top of vinegar. Cleaning up the kitchen provides
and opportunity to explore emulsifiers, which turn oil and vinegar
into mayonnaise.
The
concept of molecules is explained with hot and cold water. By
adding one simple ingredient – food coloring – we
can show how water can float on top of water. Why? Because cold
water is more dense than hot water.
We
visit the Works Theater at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh
to do a cool experiment with layers of liquid that have different
densities. We hypothesize which layer will be more dense than
the next with very colorful results.
BrainFood
concludes back in the studio with a simple review of the food,
visits, formulas and concepts explored in the show. |
