Chinese Pupils Made Ice Cream with Liquid Nitrogen
The Finnish Science and Technology Camp brought 22 elementary and secondary school pupils from Tianjin to Turku on Wednesday, 12 August 2015. In the University's workshops, the pupils experimented how to make ice cream with the help of physics and learned about the cryogenic phenomena utilised in laboratories.
In the workshop, the pupils used liquid nitrogen to freeze ice cream. They received directions from the scientists through an interpreter (on the right).
The atmosphere was excited and focused when the groups of Chinese pupils froze their ice cream mixture with liquid nitrogen. The reaction causes vapour which spreads from the mixing bowl around the entire table. As a result, the liquid nitrogen freezes the mixture making it into ice cream.
– The pupils have been very excited. The children did everything themselves, even washed the dishes, and in the end we ate the prepared ice cream. It turned out that liquid nitrogen was completely unfamiliar to the Chinese pupils. Finnish pupils have usually heard about it, says Sanni Koskinen, an intern in the physics subject teacher programme and one of the workshop instructors.
In the workshop on cryogenic phenomena, the pupils learned how to make items float with a magnet. They were also interested in the phenomenon where a rubber ball exploded when hit with a hammer, as it was so cold and fragile.
– The most common comment was "wow". The discussion was handled through an interpreter but the language barrier did not diminish the pupils' excitement, says Doctoral Candidate Jussi Tikkanen from the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
In addition to Turku, the Chinese pupils attending the Finnish Science & Technology Camp visited Stockholm, Helsinki and Velkua in the Turku Archipelago. The camp's programme in Turku included different kinds of workshops in the University of Turku, Turku University of Applied Sciences and the adult educational centre. The pupils also explored the University campus as well as the Tuorla Observatory.
The summer school was organised by the Turku Region Development Centre, the international unit of the Tianjin Municipal Education Commission and the Tianjin office in the Turku Region. In Turku, the camp was realised by the University of Turku, Turku University of Applied Sciences, the adult educational centre (FinnWay Learning education consortium specialised in transnational education) and Hot Group Production PLC.
Text and photo: Jenni Valta
Translation: Mari Ratia