Ms. Witcher's eighth grade science class has been exploring and learning about physical and chemical changes through baking. Students created their own cookie recipes to study how ingredients interact and to observe how mass is conserved during the baking process.

As part of their experiment, students researched ingredients and predicted how changes in quantities would affect their cookies. Mixing the dough demonstrated a physical change—combining ingredients without altering their properties—while baking in the oven initiated chemical changes. 

To tie their project back to scientific principles, the students also weighed their dough before and after baking, discovering that despite visual and textural changes, the mass of their concoctions remained nearly the same. This better helped them understand the conservation of mass, even as their cookies transformed.

This hands-on experiment gave students a deeper understanding of everyday science, showing how the principles of chemistry can be applied in unexpected and delicious ways.