Tales from Home Economics UPDATE

After I posted my "Tales from Home Economics" entry, I received an e-mail from my mother-in-law Ellen (her description of yeast producing gas was the feature of that post). Thankfully she was happy about me putting her words on my blog (I have to admit I didn't check beforehand. I am a poor journalist!).

Now, I've never been in her class when she gives the description, so I was excited to get more specific information on what she tells her students about yeast:

When I tell the kids about the yeast they are about to use, I tell them they will first give the yeast a bath and then give the yeast a snack and then the burps come . . . Then I tell them to look very closely after they pour the yeast into the water and maybe they can see the yeasts smiling back at them!!! These poor kids will have a twisted science education by the time they leave my class!

Actually, I think a twisted science education may be just what students need to get excited about science. I think sometimes we get the impression that science only happens in laboratories, and that we need advanced degrees to understand it. But science happens everywhere, and with a little imagination we can understand even the things we can't see with the naked eye.

Although hopefully I won't see the yeast smile before I put them in the oven!