Fifth-graders at Washington STEM Academy Tuesday afternoon learned about the law of conservation of mass through cooking duck. The law states that mass is neither created nor destroyed in chemical reactions. Caleb France, Cerulean Restaurant chef and co-owner, demonstrated how the law applies to cooking duck through the fat on the duck changing into a liquid as it heats up. He also talked to the students about heat transfer, and how something at 400 degrees will continue to cook for a time even once it’s taken off a heat source. He said he used duck because it was safer for the class since duck doesn’t carry salmonella. Before the groups of students cooked their duck breasts, France demonstrated the anti-griddle, which quickly froze one side of the duck breasts so that they would cook longer and better. The plate of the anti-griddle was -30 degrees Celsius. Each group had to decide who in their group would be the transporter of the duck breast, the cook, the observer and the recorder. As students cooked the meat, France would provide instruction and ask them questions about what they observed. Washington science coach Ben Barkey said the science experiment Tuesday with the duck was a kickoff for the fifth-grade’s study of the principle of mass conservation. “It’s a good starting point with kids because they can relate to cooking,” Barkey said. The law is one of WCS’s “power standards,” Barkey said. In the next couple days, the students also will conduct chemical experiments to further learn about the law. Barkey said he’s known France for four to five years. France knew Barkey had access to a Dewar flask and liquid nitrogen, so several years ago France had Barkey train the Cerulean staff on cooking with liquid nitrogen. Since then, they’ve discussed how France could provide his expertise in cooking to help educate students in science. Tuesday’s experiment made perfect sense to do that, Barkey said. Next week, Barkey said sixth-graders will learn about the states of matter with the help of Cerulean.
