salt, done culinary
One of the many great things about studying salt this arc is that it lends so much to the study of food! And when Brightworks studies food, we don’t just read about it; we have to make it.
The Rubber Band and the Phantoms headed to Rainbow Grocery to pick up supplies for making sauerkraut.
The Sand Leopards dove into culinary arts and made lunch for the school. They chose dishes where salt was an ingredient and used samples from the Salt Museum to add different salty flavors to the food.
Taking eight kids through cooking lunch for forty people is, in a word, challenging. Lili deftly guided her band through a chopping, popping menu that was gluten, vegan, and dairy free (except the cake). No matter how simple the menu, kids are distract-able and distracted, especially when the chopping takes too long and small arms get tired! Nevertheless, lunch was beautiful and delicious and a great experience for the Sand Leopards – and the rest of the community lunch eaters.
out and about
Rubber Band at Coffee Bar.
Phantoms in the lab and at the library.
Coyotes at Crissy Field.
Sand leopards at the probability table.
Salt and nerves.
saltwater
Salt and water!
The Phantoms (previously the Ninja Critters last week, but now officially ghosty) went out to Ocean Beach to collect salt water samples for studying. They presented their day at circle.
The Coyotes asked: How fast does salt dissolve in cold water? In hot water?
The Sand Leopards are creating their own Mesopotamian gods and goddesses. Today they went downtown to a Mesopotamian restaurant to learn about the ways salt was used in their cuisine. (Unfortunately they were so taken by the experience they didn’t get any pictures!)
And the Rubber Band, along with their osmosis experiments and discussion, regaled everyone with the macarena at the end of the day.
new habits
We’re getting into new habits.
We play with salt.
We’re learning that the band spaces can be dark -
- or light.
Food culture is changing and we get to learn about locally sourced food for our incredible hot lunches and food contributors..
But sometimes, all the kids want to do is play with those darn MagnaTiles.
salt!
Today was the first day of the first arc of the new year: Salt! Each band began their exploration of this curious mineral in different ways: tasting it, looking at it, feeling it, testing its effects on things we eat.
Gever started the morning with an introduction of salt by pouring canister after canister into a drawer and talking about the incredible places people find salt (in our bodies, in the earth, in water), its value in the ancient (and not-so-ancient) world, and how two poisonous substances (chloride and sodium) combine to create this non-toxic, essential ingredient for life.
Then the bands broke up and the exploration began.
The Rubber Band started by examining how salt impacts potatoes.
Lili told the Sand Leopards all about the ancient world of Mesopotamia, for which salt was a huge part of trade and lifestyles, and the band experimented with creating their own forms of cuneiform. They did taste tests to see if they could tell the difference between three types of salt.
Chane led her band in an exploration of how salt impacts the body’s nervous system by experimenting with reaction time.
The Coyotes used their senses to explore how salt looks, feels, and tastes.
Ellen’s salt museum:
More salt to come.
