brian cox chocolate experiment

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Brian Cox - Melting (Chocolate Factory)

The Brian Cox school experiments are designed to support teachers to carry out experimental science in the classroom, and relate it to real world experiences. In this video, Brian Cox visits a chocolate factory to discover the importance of measuring temperature for melting.

How it maps to the curriculum

Strand: 1. Nature of Science

Strand unit: 10. Appreciate the Role of Science in Society

Suggestions for use: Video for students to watch prior to lesson or during lesson to highlight the real world application of measuring temperature.

Strand: Energy & Forces

Strand unit: Heat

Meta information

• Asset type: Video
• Language: English
• Rights: All rights reserved

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Brian Cox school school experiments: At what temperature does chocolate melt?

Subject: Primary science

Age range: 7-11

Resource type: Audio, music & video

Last updated

22 February 2018

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Brian Cox School Experiment films teach students practical skills for jobs of the future

The Royal Society has teamed up with Professor Brian Cox to launch the next instalment of Brian Cox School Experiment videos . As well as helping teachers bring exciting, creative, practical science to the classroom, the latest films will equip students with skills and information on emerging jobs and industries being reshaped by scientific advances.

Aimed at students aged 11-14, the resources span topics at the forefront of global scientific research, including genome editing for sustainable crop production; ocean acidification, carbon capture and the loss of biodiversity; and machine learning and its use in cybersecurity.

Each topic is split into three videos. In the first, Professor Brian Cox and a teacher will set up and teach students with a simple classroom experiment. Then the videos will explore how the science is developing and being used in academia and industry, with visits to:

• Unitary AI to show how scientists are using machine learning to detect and remove online hate speech without relying on human moderators.
• C-Capture in Leeds, where next generation technology is being developed to capture CO 2 from industrial sources such as cement, steel, and glass-making factories and power stations for future storage or reuse.
• The James Hutton Institute in Dundee, where new diagnostic tools are helping potato breeders to identify plants with genes for naturally occurring disease resistance.

Interviews with scientists working on these pioneering technologies give students an insight into the career opportunities that may be available to them in the future.

Professor Brian Cox , Royal Society Professor for Public Engagement in Science, said: “The next generation of scientists will lead the way on finding new ways to tackle climate change, improve food security, and shape the evolution of artificial intelligence as it transforms society. I hope these videos will be an invaluable tool for teachers, embedding experimental inquiry into lessons in the context of some of the most critical issues of our time and introducing students to some of the groundbreaking technologies being designed to solve them.”

Nathan Griggs , who teaches at Bourne Community College and filmed for the ocean acidification topic, said: “Creative, experimental approaches are key to keeping students interested and engaged in science. These simple but captivating experiments will help both experienced and less confident teachers introduce students to practical science with real-world relevance. Filming alongside one of the country’s most eminent modern scientists was a dream come true, and the students were thrilled to be taught a lesson by Professor Brian Cox.”

Downloadable resources for the three topics are available on the Royal Society’s website and YouTube channel , the STEM learning UK resource library, and the Times Education Supplement (TES) resources pages.

A further three topics will be available later in the year and will introduce students to green energy technologies; robotics, and plastics.

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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - States of Matter

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl provides a good context to learn about states of matter. This children's classic starts with Willy Wonka, the reclusive and eccentric chocolate maker opening his doors to five lucky members of the public – all they must do is find a Golden Ticket in their Wonka chocolate bars. Charlie Bucket, along with his unworthy fellow winners Mike Teavee, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde, and Augustus Gloop, step through the factory gates to discover a world of chocolate rivers, boiled-sweet boats, magic chewing gum, square sweets that look round and Oompa-Loompas. Life will never be the same again. ​This book is a good setting through which children might:

• compare and group materials together, according to whether they are solids, liquids or gases
• observe that some materials change state when they are heated or cooled, and measure or research the temperature at which this happens in degrees Celsius (°C)
• identify the part played by evaporation and condensation in the water cycle and associate the rate of evaporation with temperature.
• Key scientific vocabulary: states of matter, solid, liquid, gas, change state, ice/water/steam, water vapour, heated/heating, cooled/cooling, temperature, degrees celsius, melt, freeze, solidify, boil​, evaporate/evaporation, condense/condensation

Other fiction books with a similar theme include:  The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson and  Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr Seuss.

At what temperature does chocolate melt?

Quality Assured Category: Careers Publisher: Royal Society

A resource published by the Brian Cox for the Royal Society. The children conduct a fair test to see if different types of chocolate melt at the same temperature?  Plain, milk and white chocolate have different percentages of cocoa solids, which gives it a different chemical makeup. Different brands of chocolate also have different amounts of cocoa solids. Does this affect its melting point? This resource includes a series of videos and lesson plans.

The children could think about what is needed to make the chocolate melt. They could then investigate how other food solids behave when they are made hotter? Does all food melt?What happens when they cool down again? What changes do they see?

Understanding Reversible Change

Quality Assured Category: Science Publisher: Yes Programme

Through the heart of Willy Wonka's factory flows a  river of melted chocolate. In this video we see a master Chocolatier who discusses his job and how he creates chocolates. He also talks about what he enjoyed at school and why he chose his career. The children could consider how the chocolatier works scientifically each day in his job? Which skills is he using?

This is a great example of a reversible change. Children could watch the video and then use the film to create their own chocolate cycle solid - melt - solid. They should identify the factors which cause a chocolate melt or to become solid. The children could experiment, creating their own chocolates and perhaps sell them in an enterprise project.

Terrific Scientific - Water

In this lesson from the BBC Terrific Scientific campaign, children investigate the Mpemba effect.Mpemba is a boy who in 1963 when making  ice-cream observed that the milk that was hot freezing first. This has become known as the Mpemba effect.

Your children could investigate whether the mpemba effect is true or not. They could also investigate how other liquids freeze? Which liquids can you freeze in your  school freezer? Which liquids don't freeze? This film is for teachers to help them think bout this freezing liquids  in more detail. A great example in this film is of frozen lemonade, the carbon dioxide dissipates leaving a lattice of holes. The children could suggest  ideas about why this might have happened.

Food for thought: food science

Quality Assured Category: Design and technology Publisher: British Science Association

Who is a fan of fizzy drinks and sizzling sherbet?  What is it about these things that makes them fizz and bubble?  Have a go at making your own fizz and find out more about the science behind it. Sherbet powder is made from sugar, citric acid and bicarbonate of soda.  When does sherbet powder fizz?  Is the ‘fizz’ the same as in fizzy drinks?

Also see this article  exploring popping candy.