ML Students Use Spatial Reasoning, Math Skills to Create Candy Molds

Creativity, flexibility, patience, and outside-of-the-box thinking - these are just a few ways to describe how our teachers have rethought teaching and learning in the midst of a pandemic. ML and UL technical theater teacher Liz Whalen had to rethink her entire 7th grade elective, Molding and Casing, to allow for social distancing, using single-use materials and different mediums in order to provide a hands-on and project-based learning experience. 

In this elective, students hone their spatial reasoning skills while using math and implementing the design thinking process. Early in the semester, students learned how to take a 2D image and transform it into a 3D image via air-dried clay and plaster molds. They then used math to figure out the volume of the molds and discovered that one must be cognizant of climate when working with plaster. 

Recently, the students took part in a candy-making project. They started by researching a commercial process for making candy and a do-it-yourself version. They learned why corn syrup is a better sweetener than sugar and that corn starch molds would work the best for making their candy. Students also brought in objects from their house to make molds and quickly learned that no two objects are the same! For example, they discovered that detailed objects are harder to work with due to their intricate design. 

Using trial and error, students were able to design a candy-making process that worked well for their specific molds. In the end, the project was a sweet success!