Scripture: Matthew 13:33-46, Mark 4:30-32, Luke 13:18-21
Learning Objectives:
- Students will learn Jesus told parables to help people understand godly principles.
- Students will learn parables have important lessons God wants us to learn and follow.
- Students will learn God wants us to understand how incredibly valuable God and His kingdom are to us.
- Students will experiment with and learn the different types of acid/base combinations that could make yeast rise.
Guiding Question: How do parables teach us how God wants us to live a Christian life? What types of ingredients cause yeast to rise?
Materials: Sugar, yeast, warm water, baking soda, vinegar, baking powder, warm buttermilk
Procedure: Review the Parables of the Yeast, Treasure, and Pearl from the scriptures above. Emphasize how important God and His kingdom are to us and the benefit of living a Christian lifestyle. Explain that parables are used to teach us lessons and that they are important in learning how God wants us to live for
Explain to the students the difference between leavened and unleavened bread. Tell the students that the formula for leavening bread is combining an acid and a base (provide examples of each if needed). The combination creates a gas which causes the bread to rise. Tell that students that they are going to experiment mixing different acids and bases to see which creates the most gas and would be best for leavening bread. While participating in the experiment, have the students keep data on which combinations work best.
Combinations:
-Yeast and warm water
-Baking soda and vinegar
-Baking powder and warm buttermilk
*Add sugar to any of these combinations and see if anything changes!
*Feel free to use combinations of your choice
Additional Questions: How does personal cleanliness help food last longer?
Supplemental Activity: Have the students participate in an experiment where they test hand cleanliness on bread. Have the students hypothesize how fast mold will grow and how much will grow. Track the spread of mold on the bread with clean hands vs. dirty hands and have students summarize their findings.