Food Science!

The group of teens I work with is a great and invested group who seem to be always hungry. I love science, they love food so it just seemed rational to start a Food Science program once a month. The great thing about Food Science programming is that the size can be adjusted to fit the size of your group! At the end, I will include the links and a photo of the cakes. Please email me for the resources I created, I would be more than happy to share!

The most recent food science we did was Mug Cake Science. This entailed having a basic mug cake recipe and leaving a few ingredients out of the cakes to see what would happen to the chemistry of the cake. Baking is a straight up scientific process, so leaving out ingredients can have pretty drastic results!

As always, I tested these cakes before I did the program with the teens. For my experiments, I left out several ingredients, which I then narrowed to the most dramatic results for use in the program. As I tested out the cake recipes, I recorded my hypothesis, the time everything took, and then what actually happened. I included a control cake in the process as well so I would have a basis for what cake was supposed to actually look and taste like in comparison to the other science cakes. My hypothesis for the control cake was: cake, the result was: cake. (Thank goodness) My hypothesis for not adding sugar was: No browning, not sweet. The result? Pale, different texture and finally this is the worst thing I have ever created no one should ever eat this ever. I also tried out cakes with no baking soda, no milk, no oil,  and no vanilla. Based on results the cake recipes I provided the teens with during the program were no baking soda, no milk, no oil, and no sugar.

Here is how I set up the program! First, get your teens to divide in groups, wash their hands, and give them a recipe. Give each group a different recipe that they have to work together to create. Along with their recipe, give them basic baking instructions as well as a place to record their hypothesis. Have them trade cakes with other groups, and see if they can figure out the missing ingredient and the chemical reaction that was needed from that ingredient.

If the teens are gathered around and waiting for a microwave to start their mug cake, have them fill out a cake quiz! I have a basic ten question cake myth quiz I would be more than happy to email anyone interested. 

Once the science part is complete, have all the teens make a good cake! (If they tried any of the "science" cakes they will want a cake that actually tastes like cake!) 

Here is the recipe I used: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=431093 (there are thousands of recipes, if you pick one be sure it has no egg since it is only being microwaved!) 

Here is a link to a group that did some cake science! http://www.projectexploration.org/2013/12/10/delicious-science-a-mug-of-chocolate-cake/

Here is a picture of some mug cakes and what they look like with different missing ingredients! 

Please email me for more information, such as the quiz, the overall organization or the recipes with missing ingredients.

Dawn states: Always add all the ingredients to your cakes! (especially sugar!) 

Just for fun, what is your favorite cake? Leave a comment!  

Starting Teen Programming!

Hello!


My name is Dawn States and I am the Teen Program Coordinator at Martin Library. It is a really cool job and I love working with teens. I get asked a lot though where I get my ideas from and how do I get teenagers interested in the programs I run. So I decided to put together a blog to help answer those questions! Below are some starting tips and I will post a few times a week the programs we do here that can be used for your library!


If you have a space for teens in your library, that is wonderful and you will already have the group of teens coming to you. If you do not, see if you can use another room in your library to have a meeting place for teens at least once a week (more if possible). For teens, having their own space is really important and providing that space gives them an ownership and interest in the library. At my library, ages 13-18 is considered teen.


Once you have the space, you can begin assessing the teens interests! They will be more than happy to share their interests with you, and knowing their interests is so helpful when it is time to plan programs. This is next part is SUPER important.. share your interests with them too. You may find that you have a common interest, or know something that they have always wanted to
learn how to do. Sharing interests and basing programs off of that is the key to making sustainable programming. Remember if the teens aren't into it, and you aren't into then be honest: why are you even having the program? Passion and enthusiasm are vital to getting teens involved!


Now that you have a basis for interest, start seeing how you can incorporate those interests into a program. A teen likes Harry Potter? Make a craft based on that. A teen has a passion for design? Try freezer paper stencils. A teen loves spoken word? You are passionate about art? Find ways to make those work in the library!


There are lots of online resources for ideas too. Pinterest is awesome, but it shouldn't be the only place you look for ideas and one of the most important parts about Pinterest is to try out the ideas! Sometimes they work wonderfully, sometimes you end up with glue everywhere and nothing cool to show. So try them out see if the ideas work, then get programming based off those interests mentioned earlier!


I have found for me after all the fun idea/interest discussing and the testing of the crafts, that it is super helpful for me to have some structure behind the program. I usually like to think of a snappy name, brainstorm some ideas and organize, pick a consistent date and time (that is really key to teenagers, they will show up week after week asking what you are doing), and have a supply list. Google docs is what I use for supply lists, and it works brilliantly. Don't forget to advertise what you are doing, so the teens know! Being prepared is important, so have a list, have the supplies, try things out, and plan at least a month in advance. These steps mean you can have fun and interact with teens during the program instead of worrying about forgotten supplies!


This a basic outline of programming for teens! Please comment and ask questions! Dawn states: teen programming is really great and stay tuned for examples of programs!