Product Review

Hands-on, inquiry-based, and relevant to every student's life, Gourmet Lab serves up a full menu of activities for science teachers of grades 6-12. This collection of 15 hands-on experiments, each of which includes a full set of both student and teacher pages, challenges students take on the role of scientist and chef, as they boil, bake, and toast their way to better understanding of science concepts from chemistry, biology, and physics. By cooking edible items such as pancakes and butterscotch, students have the opportunity to learn about physical changes in states of matter, acids and bases, biochemistry, and molecular structure.

The Teacher pages include Standards addressed in each lab, a vocabulary list, safety protocols, materials required, procedures, data analysis, student questions answer key, and conclusions and connections to spur wrap-up class discussions. Cross-curricular notes are also included to highlight a lesson's connection to subjects such as math and literacy. Finally, optional extensions for both middle school and high school levels detail how to explore each concept further. What better topic than food to engage students to explore science in the natural world?