Frozen Science
-------------------------Embark on a frozen adventure to melt
away the winter blues. Amaze your
friends with an ice cube challenge,
decorate with colourful ice sculptures and
make some yummy 5-minute ice cream.
Warm up to these science experiments on
a cold winter’s day.
techno-science.ca
Ice Cube on a String
We challenge you to lift up an ice cube without touching it with your hands.
Materials
 a glass
 1 ice cube
 1 piece of string, about 30 cm long
 water
 salt
Let’s get to work!
1. Fill the glass to the top with water.
2. Place the ice cube in the water so it is
floating at the top.
3. Lay the piece of string across the ice cube, with the ends of the string hanging over
the edges of the glass.
4. Sprinkle a few shakes of salt over the ice cube and string.
5. Wait about 1 minute.
6. Carefully lift the ends of the string up and observe how the
ice cube is now stuck to the string.
What happened?
The string and ice cube are now attached. Normally, ice melts into
water at a temperature of 0 o Celsius. Adding the salt over the ice
lowers the melting temperature, turning the ice around the string
into water. At the same time, the water in the glass is getting
colder from the ice cube, and re-freezes around the string. With
all of this melting and freezing going on, the string gets frozen
into the ice cube.
We use salt on
roads in the
winter, to melt
the ice and
keep the roads
safe.
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Winter Garden
Create these icy decorations on a cold day, or any time of year in your freezer.
Materials
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Balloons of different
shapes or sizes
Water
Food colouring
Scissors
Plastic gloves to keep your
hands clean
A freezer or a cold day
(below 0o Celsius)
Let’s get to work!
1. Fill a balloon with water
until it is mostly full and round.
2. Add 4 to 5 drops of food colouring into the water through the mouth of the balloon.
3. Tie off the balloon with a knot.
4. Be sure the colouring is well mixed into the water by sloshing the balloon around a
bit.
5. Place the balloon in the freezer. If the temperature outside is below freezing (0o
Celsius), then you can place the balloon outside in the snow instead.
6. Wait overnight for the water to freeze.
7. To remove the ice globe, run warm water over the balloon to
loosen it up, then remove the balloon with the help of some
scissors. If your balloon has food colouring in it, use plastic gloves
so that your hands don’t get stained.
What Happened?
You can test
out different
shapes by
using different
balloons, plastic
gloves or other
containers.
A liquid is the state of matter which takes the shape of any container it’s
in. In this activity, liquid water was poured into the balloon and took the
rounded shape of the balloon. When the temperature of the water was
lowered below its freezing point, it experienced a change of state to
become a solid. Solids can keep their own shape without any help from a
container, so the ice globes that you made can be removed from the
balloons and hold their shape as you decorate your winter garden outside.
techno-science.ca
5-Minute Ice Cream
Materials
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30 ml (2 tablespoons) white sugar
5 ml (1 teaspoon) vanilla
250 ml (1 cup) of 5, 10 or 18%
cream
125 ml ( ½ cup) coarse salt or
table salt
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12 to 24 ice cubes
2 zipper or re-sealable sandwich
bags
Gloves, mitts or hand towel
Medium mixing bowl
Stirring spoon
Let’s get to work!
1. Combine the sugar, the cream and vanilla in a
bowl. Mix the ingredients until the sugar is
completely dissolved.
2. Pour the mixture into one of the zipper bags,
squeeze any extra air out, and seal the bag
properly.
3. Fill the second zipper bag half full with ice
cubes, then add the salt.
4. Place the bag with the cream mixture into the
ice and salt bag, remove any extra air and seal
the ice bag closed.
5. Using the gloves, mitts or towel, shake the
bags around for about 5 minutes or until you
get the ice cream texture you’re looking for.
6. Remove the cream bag, and eat right from the
bag with a spoon or serve in a bowl to share
with a friend.
What Happened?
When salt is added to the bag of ice cubes, the
freezing point of the solution is lowered. The
temperature of the solution of salt and melted ice
water will be less than 0o Celsius, which is cold
enough to freeze other liquids like the cream and sugar in
the recipe. Rapidly cooling the cream and sugar in this way
prevents large ice crystals from forming and making the
mixture grainy. Shaking the bag up and down adds air into
the mixture to give a final fluffy ice cream. The result is a
smooth, tasty ice cream treat!
techno-science.ca
For the Experiments
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A glass
Ice cubes
1 piece of string, about 30 cm long
Water
Table salt or coarse salt
Balloons of different shapes or sizes
Food colouring
Scissors
Plastic gloves to keep your hands
clean
Movie
Frozen (2013)
Join sisters Anna and Elsa on their icy
and snow-filled adventures.
(Walt Disney Pictures, Rated PG)
For the Recipes
 30 ml (2 tablespoons) white sugar
 5 ml (1 teaspoon) vanilla
 250 ml (1 cup) of 5, 10 or 18%
cream
 125 ml ( ½ cup) coarse salt or table
salt
 12 to 24 ice cubes
 2 zipper or re-sealable sandwich
bags
 Gloves, mitts or hand towel
 Medium mixing bowl
 Stirring spoon
Web Link
Quebec Winter Carnival – Game Zone
Too cold to go outside? Check out these
great winter games.
http://www.carnaval.qc.ca/zone_jeux/
techno-science.ca