Little Miss Muffet

Little Miss Muffet, Sat on her tuffet,

Eating her curds and whey. Along came a spider,

Who sat down beside her, And frightened

Miss Muffet away.

Miss Muffet knew all about curd and whey.

Let’s find out what science can tell us about it all!

Lets get ready for lab.

• Gather your safety equipment.• You will need to wear your goggles

for this experiment.

Set up your Journal

Title: Curds and Whey

Guiding Question: How do I know a chemical change happened?

Chart: I notice…. I wonder….

Step 1• You will need to wear your goggles

for this experiment.• Remember never eat or drink

anything in the lab!

Step 2• Examine the milk the beaker, hold it

up to the light.• Write down some characteristics

about milk in the I notice column.• Pour 30ml of milk in the plate.

Step 3• Examine the clear liquid, do you

know what it is? If not waft a bit of it!• Record some observations about the

clear liquid in the I notice column of your chart.

• Add the clear liquid 30 ml (vinegar) to the milk in your plate

• Record your observations in the I notice chart.

• Draw a picture of what everything looks like After we test. Label your picture “After”.

What happened?

• The vinegar that was added is a substance called an acid. The acid changes a milk protein called casein so that it will clump together to form solid curds. Heat helps separate the curds from the liquid whey.

• Google the word precipitate. Did you have a precipitate in this lab? How do you know?

Ok so now it is clean up time!

All of these materials can be rinsed down the sink, we just want to be sure that we run water down the sink as well. Put the empty cup in your bucket.

We learned last week that a chemical change results in a new substance.

• Write a sentence explaining how the new substance is different from the original substances.

Complete the I wonder portion of your chart.

• You might include something like changing the temperature.

• Perhaps you want to change the milk.• Maybe you would like to know what

happens if you use more vinegar or less vinegar.

Please take a minute and tell how you know this is a chemical reaction.

Identify which sign of a chemical change gave it away. Yes you must write it as a conclusion to the lab!