Students learn surprises of science

SAUGUS – More than two dozen kids and even a few parents packed the Saugus Library conference room last week for the library?s popular monthly Science Wednesday program.Bethany Templeton Klem, head of the children?s department, leads the program every month, in which kids spend time learning about science in different creative activities.Last week, participants learned how to make butter. Groups of kids stood around plastic folding tables and each group was given a glass mason jar half filled with heavy cream. On the count of three, Templeton Klem instructed everyone to start shaking.View a photo gallery.?They?re learning about physical changes,” she said. “It?s demonstrating how things can change their substance pretty easily. We?re actually going to be comparing the difference between the cream, the butter and the whipped cream. They?re all the same substance but just separate out into different components. It turns into whipped cream before it turns into butter. If you make whipped cream with a hand mixer and whip it too far, you?ll end up with butter as well.”The kids took turns shaking their jars and after about 10 minutes what was once cream was now thick butter.?You have to rinse it a little bit because you end up with butter and butter milk,” said Templeton Klem. “For today we?re not going to worry about that because we?re not going to be storing it. They won?t be able to take it home but they will be able to sample it.”Andrew Whitcomb, 11, said he was having fun with his brother Bryce.?Everyone takes two-minute periods of shaking the jar. By the fifth or fourth person you open the jar and get this,” said Whitcomb, holding up a jar of fresh butter. “Then you separate it and take all the liquid that?s still in the butter and put it in the pitcher. It smells like butter. It definitely smells like butter. I tried to make whipped cream once, but we didn?t have heavy cream. I used regular cream.”Of course, a little sibling rivalry couldn?t be avoided.?I?m just mad because my brother is the same age as me but is like a foot smaller and he insists that he?s stronger than me even though he weighs 45 pounds,” said Andrew Whitcomb.Jordan Crane, 11, was at his first Science Wednesday after his friend Sarah Brooks, also 11, made him go.?It?s actually fun,” said Crane.Brooks said her mom signed them up and noted even though it?s cool to see how butter is made, she?ll still probably buy it at the store.Fernanda Garcia was with 10 children from her day care program and said Science Wednesday is a good way to introduce the kids to “something different.”?Some of them only speak Portuguese and they?re starting school this year,” said Garcia. “It?s a new environment for them.”After the shaking finished, Templeton Klem opened up a box of crackers so the kids could sample their homemade butter and a box of vanilla wafers to taste the whipped cream.Andrew Whitcomb said his butter tasted better than store bought, but the whipped cream wasn?t so good because it wasn?t sweetened.?This one is the one we made, and this one had vanilla added to it,” he said, pointing to the difference in the two samples of whipped cream in front of him. “I do like the butter though.”Maureen Whitcomb was there with her quadruplets and said she always tries to make it to Science Wednesday.?It?s fun, you learn different things,” she said. “It?s important. It really, really is. I am sorry to see the budgets cut. When the library was having its issues before we would go to some of the other libraries, but I?m really glad Bethany is here. We do what we can to donate time or supplies or whatever she needs to do different programs.”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].