Chasing Cheerios

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Making Blood

The girls are studying the human body in their science curriculum (R.E.A.L. - Life), and we had SO much fun making a blood model as one their labs. 

To make blood, you need corn syrup (plasma), red hot candies (red blood cells), lentils (platelets), and white beans (white blood cells).  Have fun mixing the ingredients together and try not to eat too many read hots (Please see the try before you buy Life Science Guide for more detailed instructions and printable lab sheets).


We talked about what each item represented, and O(6) was VERY skeptical that the liquid part of the blood is clear.  However, when she poured the red hot candies into the mixture, a light bulb went off and she said "Oh!  Now I understand why blood is red!"



I realized that E(3) was really paying attention to the lesson, when her thumb was bleeding and she sadly said "I don't have ANY platelets.  I just don't have any platelets!"  She thought that since she was bleeding, and it wasn't scabbing over quickly, she didn't have any platelets!

You can check out this curriculum to "try it before you buy" here.  

5 comments:

  1. OMG! I love this post! We're working on the human body too. Two materials we've loved are the Belduc layer puzzles and this great felt human body set from Etsy. Hands on! Can't wait to make this blood! :-)

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  2. How clever! What a great way to introduce the human body in a fun and fascinating way. Renee

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  3. Cool! We did this one at a science-based Halloween night one time. They just used plastic bags which, while wasteful and easy to oversquish, made it easy to see the components. It inspired lots of groans and giggles, plus a request to fish out the redhots.

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  4. I like the bag idea! We might make another batch with hair gel and other non edibles and make it a sensory bag that we can keep and explore on the lightbox. Thanks for the idea!

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  5. This is such a cool lesson, Melissa, and I love how you've broken it down for us. E's comment about her blood, however, takes the cake! You're such a good mom!!

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