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Flipping science into real-life applications at Holy Family Catholic School

Students at Holy Family Catholic School in Hillcrest Heights make pancakes Feb. 25 as the culmination of their monthlong “Science: The Culinary Way” study program. The students hosted an “Edible Science: The Perfect Pancake” demonstration the day before Ash Wednesday. Making pancakes for their fellow students are fifth-graders (from left) Maharlika Maximo, Anderson Hunt, Aliyah Lewis and Gabrielle Batchelor. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)

Middle school science students at Holy Family Catholic School in Hillcrest Heights, Maryland, commemorated Shrove Tuesday – sometimes called Pancake Day – by making pancakes, serving them to their fellow classmates and reporting on the science behind the creation of the popular food item.

The school presented an “Edible Science: The Perfect Pancake” demonstration on Feb. 25, the day before Ash Wednesday. It was the culmination of a monthlong program called “Science: The Culinary Way.”

“Science: The Culinary Way” was a fifth- through eighth-grade science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) project developed by by Holy Family’s STEM coordinator, Patricia Cooper, and taught by middle school science teacher Mary Walton as an engaging way to teach students about science.

“The students are able to make connections of what they are learning to their everyday lives,” Walton said. “In this way, we engage them beyond the classroom.”

Just by looking at the science behind making a pancake, Walton explained, the students were taught lessons on the properties of solid, liquid and gas matter; the difference between a homogeneous and heterogeneous solution; how to calculate weight; and the properties of density and mass.

She added that students enjoyed the project and readily participated in the various lessons connected to mixing, cooking and eating pancakes.

“I love science, and I love it when a student gets excited and gets it,” Walton said.

Mary Walton, the middle school science teacher at Holy Family Catholic School in Hillcrest Heights, explains the science behind making pancakes to seventh-graders (from left) Laila Hunt, Briya Stanley and Layla Miles. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)

As part of the “Science: The Culinary Way” program students conducted research on the history of pancakes around the world, planning recipes, completing mathematical conversions of ingredients and integrating technology.

Part of the “Science: The Culinary Way” project was to have students attend live presentations from various chefs in the metropolitan area.

On Feb. 5, Brother Andrew Corriente, a Capuchin friar studying at Capuchin College in Washington, visited the school to demonstrate the relationship between science and baking.

In January, Brother Andrew was crowned the champion on ABC’s “The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition.”

“We’ve worked very hard and enjoyed watching and learning,” said eighth-grader Kellyn Wyatt.

Sixth-grade student NarDre Thompson said that he learned that “the background of science is the fact that everything is made of matter, (and) we used what we learned in the design of our pancakes.”

Holy Family Catholic School principal Michelle Taylor praised the “Science: The Culinary Way” program as “an engaging and thoughtful approach to teaching our students.”

She pointed out that the project not only incorporated the four traditional components of STEM – science, technology, engineering, and mathematics – but added an “R” for religion and an “A” for art, making this a STREAM project.

For students too young to participate in the hands-on science of preparing pancakes, they could draw pictures of their favorite pancake or the guest chefs who came to speak. All students also studied how the pancake became associated with Mardi Gras and the start of Lent.

Natalia Barahona, a fifth-grade student, explained that eating pancakes as a traditional meal on the day before Ash Wednesday comes from “an old custom of using up ingredients that people were going to give up for Lent – fats, milk and eggs.”

Holy Family Catholic School eighth-graders Hassan Dorman and Jamari Arrington flip pancakes for fellow students during the Feb. 25 “Edible Science: The Perfect Pancake” demonstration at their Hillcrest Heights school. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)

Taylor said “it is a joy to witness our students working so hard to discover the real world applications of what they learn.”

“It is a pleasure to be in a faith-filled environment where we can glorify God through teaching the faith and teaching perseverance through this multi-disciplined learning experience,” Taylor said. “This is how we bring children to the faith with a sound academic program.”

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