The Science Within Chocolate

At Springville Junior High School, students had the opportunity to learn and experiment with well-loved milk chocolate. On Monday, November 8, Mr. David Kindrick’s eighth-grade science class made chocolate molds to experiment with the physical properties of matter.

The purpose of this experiment was to help students understand and witness these physical properties. Mr. Kindrick wanted his students to see the changes from solids to liquids to gas. He chose chocolate to work with because it can go through each phase without adding or taking away a large amount of energy. Mr. Kindrick said, “Chocolate is also a tasty treat that you can get to solidify in a timely manner.”

On the day of the experiment, Mr. Kindrick brought chocolate chips to melt in the microwave for his students to mold.  Each student got a cup full of the melted chocolate. The classes were asked to bring their own molds for the experiment.  Mr. Kindrick suggested cookie cutters or a potato to carve a mold.  Most students were surprised that they could use a potato and were excited to try it. Students brought the molds suggested and other creative molds like ice cube trays and sucker molds.  According to Katie Hatfield, an eighth grader at SJHS, something she looked forward to was seeing all the different molds used for the chocolate experiment.

After students poured their liquefied chocolate into their molds, they placed the molds by the open window where the chocolate could go through the changing process. It was cold outside, which sped the process up for the chocolate lovers.  After the molds had hardened, students took the chocolate out, admired their work, and then ate away.

Mr. Kindrick’s class enjoyed the lesson and better understood the physical properties in chocolate.  Students now can relate the changes of chocolate to other things in the world. Most of the student’s favorite part of the experiment was eating the chocolate. Genna Murray said, “I mean, who doesn’t like eating chocolate?”