In this 4-6 day lesson, students explore how heat transforms butter through physical and chemical changes by making brown butter, and analyzing the process in stages. This culminates in a fun and easy brown butter rice krispie treat lab that includes a CER.
 
Note: This lesson has been recently updated in March 2024. 
 
We have two versions of this lesson (one for grades 5-7 and one for grades 8-11). Both are rooted in most of the same activities. Here are key differences:
Components: Grades 8-11 has a heavier emphasis on the individual components that make up butter.
Melting: Grades 8-11 compare melting points across different fats and learn the basics of molecular structure of saturated and unsaturated fats, while Grades 5-7 consider what melting really is, and evidence that the butter has become a liquid
Bubbles: Grades 8-11 do an additional lab and data analysis/math work to look at the percentage of water in butter. Grades 5-7 simply establish that bubbles occur due to the evaporation of water in butter.
Chemical Changes: Grades 8-11 learn more details about the Maillard Reaction. Grades 5-7 focus more on evidence of chemical changes.
 
 
This Lesson Includes:
Teacher Lesson Plan with Essential Questions, Objectives, and NGSS standards, Lab Preparation (Materials, Ingredients, Amazon Lists when appropriate, and Tips & Tricks) and day-by-day lesson plans
Classroom Slides with directions for lesson flow, turn and talk prompts, illustrations and graphics, embedded videos, and whole group reflection questions
Student Handouts with step-by-step lab directions and other activities
Anchor Reading that explains key concepts
Videos: an instructional lab video and a fun and informative Science Snack video
 
Resources are shared as a view-only folder in Google Drive. Classroom slides and student handouts can be downloaded, copied, and adapted for personal teacher use. Teacher lesson plan and lab preparation documents are provided as view-only documents that cannot be copied to ensure they remain secure while still being fully accessible for classroom use. 
 
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