My first blog! ;)
Throughout my day at the UMass science event, I attended 4 very
different classes, titled: "Unveiling the Hidden Universe",
"From Capillary Origami to the Lotus Effect", "Funtastic Food
Science", and "The Singular Science of Paper, and Everything
Else."
Of these 4 classes, I particularly enjoyed the food science
workshop because I was really able to get involved and experiment. Here I
was shown how to change melted ice cream into the more common and tasteful,
creamy texture we know today. For this experiment, only two ingredients were
needed: liquid nitrogen (LN2) and (most importantly) ice cream! <& for
safety, gloves were a must> Mixing all these ingredients together in the
blender, I learned that the secret to the creamy ice cream all has to do with
the rapid freezing of the mixtures. The liquid nitrogen caused the fat and
water particles to stay extremely small, giving the ice cream its fluffy
consistency. The main goal was to avoid the ice crystals, which are similar to
what one gets when making milk.
In short, I really enjoyed my day and through this event, I was
able to—though very briefly—see the various pathways one can travel with solely
the love of science.
Seems like you learned a lot, Christi!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great blog post. Your ideas are clear and supported with lots of detail. Keep up the great effort!
I like your detailed description of the food science workshop. It's a good balance between technical terms and personal experience. I learned a lot within that one paragraph. It would have been nice if you summarized the other three classes but you described them and your experiences with them well. :)
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your description of the food science class very much. You stated what was actually occurring within the molecules of the ice cream and why using liquid nitrogen would work to transform the melted ice cream back to its normal texture and consistency. Through our discussion, I realized that you thought the trip to UMass brought you a great perspective on how science can be put to practical use in a multitude of ways. It was nice to hear your thoughts on the other classes you attended as well through our conversations. You seem to understand the complex information discussed in the classes especially in the class that compared droplets of water and the way paper crumples to a black hole. I attended that class as well and it was great to be able to discuss the information the provided us with even when we could not understand everything that was said. Overall, it seemed like you had a great experience at UMass and gained a lot of useful knowledge from the experience.
ReplyDeleteGreat comment, Moriah: thoughtful, interesting and thorough. Keep it up!
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