PERFORMANCE TASK

IN
SCIENCE

Submitted by:
Sherwin S. Castillo

Submitted to:
Mr. Daniel Delos Santos
 Make Plastic from Milk

Objectives:
This project will test the potential of milk as a component in making plastic.

Materials:
 A stove or microwave
 Eye dropper
 Bowl
 Spoon
 Strainer
 Paper towel
 Molds or other tools for shaping

Procedures:
1. Measure out 1 cup of milk, this makes about 4 minifigures or 4 dinosaurs. Heat on the stove
top in a pot or in the microwave in a heat resistant bowl. Rinse the eyedropper thoroughly.
2. Remove from the heat. Add 4 teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice and stir gently. You will
notice that it immediately begins to curdle. Stir gently for approximately one minute for the full
reaction to finish and all the curds to form. Don’t stir aggressively. Be gentle.
3. Strain off the whey using a strainer or you can use cheese cloth (or similar). Let drip for a few
minutes until most of the liquid has drained off. Gently smoosh the curds around in the
strainer if needed.
4. Now remove the curds and place them on a few layers of paper towel. Carefully pat and
squish to remove more liquid. You may need to replace the paper towel and repeat a few
times. You want to remove as much liquid as possible.
5. You will notice it is kind of crumbly and squishy, but you can smoosh and shape it. Now you
can put it in your molds at this point but we discovered that if you put the curds in a jar or
bowl, soaking in vinegar for an hour, you will get a much smoother final product. Plus, they
are whiter if you do this extra step. If you do the extra vinegar soak, once the hour is up,
repeat the straining, and paper towel drying process again. This time you will notice it is
smoother in texture and no longer crumbly.
6. Now squish it into your molds. We used silicone molds to make Lego minifigures and
dinosaurs. You can also shape it by hand. Roll it to create beads, then use a skewer to put a
hole through it before setting it aside to dry. Or flatten it and use some cookie cutters. The
drying process takes time, approximately 2 days depending on your natural humidity levels.
But you can remove it from the silicone molds after 24 hours and this will help speed up the
drying time.
7. Once dry, clean up the edges a bit if necessary, just like you would with any other casting.
You can do this with just your fingers, a piece of sand paper or other tools. It will be hard
plastic now, so it might take a little extra work! You can paint the final products with either
acrylic paints or markers. I used acrylic paints and a sharpie for the faces on mine. Spray
them with a clear coat to give them a nice shine once you are finished.
Questions:
1. What property of milk makes it as potential component in plastic-making?
2. What property of vinegar helps the plastic become smooth?

Conclusions:
This is a chemistry experiment working with polymers. Polymers are molecules that have
formed a regular chain structure. Milk contains molecules of a protein called Casein. During this
reaction between warm milk and acid the casein molecules unfold and form long chains called a
polymer. The polymer can be molded and shaped which makes it a plastic. In this case it’s called
casein plastic or milk plastic because of the type of molecules that created the plastic.
 Cook Amino Acids and Sugar and Discover the Range of Aromas Released

Objectives:
This project will test the potential of amino acids and sugar in increasing aroma of food?

Materials:
• Pure corn syrup
• Amino acid caplets (available at health-food stores)
• Nonstick skillet
• Teaspoon
• Oven mitts or hot pads

Procedures:
1. Put about a teaspoon of corn syrup in the nonstick skillet.
2. Open one of the amino acid caplets and smell the powder inside. Does it have a distinctive
odor?
3. Pour the amino acid powder into the corn syrup in the skillet.
4. Turn the heat to high.
5. Move the skillet back and forth to better disperse the powder as the corn syrup/amino acid
mixture heats up and liquefies. Do you smell a distinctive odor as the mixture heats up? Do you
notice more than one odor as the mixture continues heating? What color is the heated mixture?

Questions:
1. What property of amino acids makes it produce great aroma?
2. Does the temperature/heat affect the result of the experiment?

Conclusions:
When the amino acids and sugars are heated, they interact with each other in a phenomenon
known as the Maillard’s reaction. The molecules of the amino acids and sugars combine to form new
aromas and flavors. It normally occurs at very high temperatures, but if there is a high concentration
of sugars and amino acids, then it will occur at lower temperatures. The Maillard reaction gives toast
its distinctive flavor, beer its distinctive color, and self-tanning products the power to turn skin brown.
It is responsible for literally hundreds of flavor compounds.
 Make Colored Fire in Every Color of the Rainbow

Objectives:
This project will find out what color of fire does the table salt, driftwood, and lithium (form
batteries) produce when burned.

Materials:
• Isopropyl lamp
• Tripod
• Table salt
• Small driftwood
• Lithium batteries

Procedures:
1. Prepare the lamp, tripod and wire gauze, light the lamp.
2. Burn the table salt first, observe what happens.
3. Try burning the driftwood (make sure it is dry), observe the fire produced.
4. Lastly, burn the lithium battery (be careful while observing it burns.)

Questions:
1. What colors does the 3 components produce?
2. What property of this components make it produce different fire colors?

Conclusions:
Lithium (from batteries) produce red-colored flames. This fire color is very bright. Table salt
produces yellow flames because of sodium, this color is natural color for most fires. The driftwood
produces blue flames, it is because of trace metals from seawater.
 Chemical Reaction with Baking Soda and Vinegar

Objectives:
This project will show the chemical reaction when baking soda and vinegar was mixed.

Materials:
• Baking soda
• Vinegar
• A skinny glass
• A plate (to catch spills)

Procedures:
1. Get your skinny glass and put it on your plate.
2. Prepare 1/4 cup of vinegar and set it aside.
3. Prepare one heaping tablespoon of baking soda and set it aside.
4. Pour your 1/4 cup of vinegar into your glass.
5. Then, dump the heaping of tablespoon of baking soda into the glass. You’ll see a fizzing and
bubbling and percolating and growing column of stinky, smelly soda and vinegar mixture.

Questions:
1. What property of this vinegar and baking soda make it produce fizz and bubbles?
2. Does the amount of vinegar affect the chemical reaction?
3. Does the amount of baking soda affect the chemical reaction?

Conclusions:
This is a chemical reaction, where a combination of two different things produces a third: The
vinegar and baking soda mixture is making carbon dioxide. This CO2 is the bubbles and fizzing you
see.
 Chalk: An Alternative Metal Polisher

Objectives:
This project will test the effectiveness of chalk in removing rust stains in metal tool or
accessories.

Materials:
• Chalk
• Water
• A skinny glass or mixing bowl
• Stirring rod
• Mortar and Pestle
• Clean cloth (cotton was recommended)
• Metal tool/ornament

Procedures:
1. Pound the chalk using mortar and pestle until it turn into powder/dust form.
2. Transfer the chalk dust into the skinny glass or mixing bowl and add some water (until a
paste-like mixture was achieved).
3. Dip the clean soft cloth into the mixture, dabbed a small amount into the metal tool/ornament.

Questions:
1. Will the prepared chalk-based polisher be effective in polishing the sample metal
tool/ornament?
2. How will the chalk –based polisher affects the sample metal tool/ornament and rubbed for
many times/constantly?
3. What property of chalk will make/makes the polisher effective?

Conclusions:
The chalk-based metal polisher has an ingredient of Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3). CaCO3 is an
inorganic compound that occurs naturally as chalk in lime stones and has slightly solubility in water.
The texture of the mixture removes microscopic sediments which are potential oxidizers. This
happens because of the antacid property of calcium carbonate. When mixed with Water (H2O),
calcium carbonate partially reacts with it and forms Carbon Dioxide (CO2). The result of the reaction
removes oxidation in the metal and creates a reflective surface.
 Reactions

Experiment 1:
I found this experiment very exciting and fun. The children will be surely amazed and excite
doing this experiment, they can make their own toys made of plastic and what is interesting on this
experiment was the plastic made from the experiment was non-toxic so it was safe for children.

Experiment 2:
This experiment was very helpful, not only in households but even in restaurant. With this experiment
they can improvise additives to increase the aroma of the food they cook. It can increase the
satisfaction of the customers and for also when serving food in households for visitors.

Experiment 3:
This experiment was cool. I can make flames with different colors. I can also introduce this
experiment to my friends so we can have fun together.

Experiment 4:
This experiment was classic but I was still amazed when I do this experiment. I can also use
this experiment to make an improvise rocket. I can blast this rocket using the reaction of vinegar and
baking soda.

Experiment 5:
This experiment was very beneficial to everyone especially to those who love metal ornament
and accessories. They can improvise metal polisher using chalk dust and water. In this way they can
save money, instead of purchasing expensive chroming metal polishers they can do this experiment
and it is safe for everyone.