STEM Baking Project: Bread in a Bag

For Valentine's Day, I had a special treat planned for the students.  They would need to use their scientistic observational skills and their mathematical knowledge of measuring to make bread.  Yes, you heard me correctly, warm from the oven, golden brown, soft bread! I got the recipe here.  This recipe caught my attention because all the ingredients go in a bag, which makes for easy mixing and clean up.
I told the students the day before how they would become bakers the next morning and would bake their families a delicious side to accompany their Valentine's Day dinner.  To help prepare for baking, we would need to hone our measuring skills.  During Tuesday's math stations, Mrs. Reid, our school's fabulous math specialist, came in to assist with measurement stations.
We used sand, beans, and plastic gems to help us become familiar with using measuring cups and measuring spoons.  We also estimated how many scoops to fill certain containers and compared the sizes of containers in regards to how many scoops they could hold.  Some students also learned equivalencies such as it takes 2 half cups to fill one cup or 4 quarter cups to fill the same cup.

At the end, we came together and shared what we learned - useful information to keep in mind while we cooked the next day. :)

Wednesday morning students came in excited to celebrate Valentine's Day and eager to bake bread. Thankfully, the amazing Ms. Clemenzi had some time available and offered to join in on the fun.  After students put on their plastic aprons and gloves,  they got with their partner and started reading the kid friendly directions that I created with pictures.  Each pair of children had a gallon sized plastic bag that they put all of their ingredients into.  They took turns squishing the contents of the bag to mix all of the ingredients and to "wake up" the yeast.

Of course, once the loaves were placed in pans and left in the kitchen to rise, these bakers had to clean up their messes, and they were happy to do so!

I loved the teamwork, cooperation, and involvement of each child.  There was definitely some quality control with a few friendly reminders to fill the measuring cup all the way or to level off a measuring spoon.  What made me a happy teacher was that kids were open to their peers' constructive feedback and often thanked each other for the help or reminder.

The bread baked while the kids were at recess.  After lunch, they were anxious to try the warm bread.  Thumbs up all around!

I'm glad families enjoyed the bread!  I hope this lesson inspires children to help cook at home.  Add a comment below or send me a picture if your child helps you bake something yummy!

I could not have done this special project without the support and assistance of our wonderful cafeteria staff.  Thank you also to Mr. Sam for his help reading directions and cleaning up after us.  Thank you also to the parents who helped at our Valentine's Day party.  I appreciate your help with packaging the bread loaves so they were ready to send home.