{"id":12223,"date":"2024-11-13T17:08:39","date_gmt":"2024-11-13T17:08:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.golive.clarku.edu\/news\/2024\/11\/13\/tasty-teaching\/"},"modified":"2025-05-19T09:21:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T13:21:35","slug":"tasty-teaching","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2024\/11\/13\/tasty-teaching\/","title":{"rendered":"Tasty teaching"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

Ice cream and pickles make science approachable in Kitchen Chemistry<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/iframe>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p><p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/academics\/undergraduate\/programs\/majors-minors\/chemistry\/\">chemistry<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/academics\/undergraduate\/programs\/majors-minors\/biochemistry-and-molecular-biology\/\">biochemistry<\/a> Professor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/faculty\/profiles\/don-spratt\/\">Donald Spratt<\/a>’s lab, students make ice cream in the name of science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spratt’s Kitchen Chemistry course has become a popular selection for students who aren’t science majors. In the lab, students experiment with ingredients under Spratt’s guidance. While making butter, ice cream, root beer, and pickles, they discover how pH, elements, and molecules interact with food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>“This course was spawned from trying to help students not be so scared of chemistry, but also appreciate science around us and improve scientific literacy,” says Spratt. “Food is chemistry, and if students can see that, they’ll become better cooks, and that could be a good life lesson.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On this episode of <strong>Challenge. Change.<\/strong>, Spratt gives us a taste of the science behind making ultra-creamy ice cream and a history lesson on pickles. Outside the kitchen, Spratt studies enzymes responsible for cancers and other diseases, neurodegenerative and immune disorders, and congenital defects. His <a href=\"https:\/\/clarknow.clarku.edu\/2024\/10\/31\/i-couldnt-do-this-research-without-the-new-lab\/\">research<\/a> focuses on the structural and mechanistic studies of the HECT E3 ubiquitin ligases and homeodomain transcription factors using biophysical approaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Challenge. Change.<\/strong> is produced by Melissa Hanson for Clark University. Listen and subscribe on <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/4UuYAjq1d3Hq45cjwxoCNL\">Spotify<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/challenge-change\/id1608025510\">Apple Podcasts<\/a>. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Experimenting with Kitchen Chemistry at Clark University\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8u9aQPbWpmw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n<div class=\"csidebar center\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-medium-large wp-image-48218\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023_Taurus_Major_01-416x280-2.jpg\" alt=\"dung beetle close up\" class=\"wp-image-48218\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Dung Beetles collected by Professor Erin McCullough.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-sounds-of-science-on-challenge-change\">The sounds of science on Challenge. Change.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/clarknow.clarku.edu\/2024\/04\/17\/how-can-microbes-help-farmers-grow-more-food-to-feed-the-world\/\">Studying Plant Traits to Feed the World in 2050 with Professor Chandra Jack<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/clarknow.clarku.edu\/2024\/02\/14\/flashy-tails-and-sharp-horns-in-the-name-of-love\/\">Love is a Battlefield and Other Biology Lessons with Professor Erin McCullough<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/clarknow.clarku.edu\/2023\/10\/18\/gpa-is-not-destiny\/\">Chanda Prescod-Weinstein and the Disordered Cosmos<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ice cream and pickles make science approachable in Kitchen Chemistry<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12224,"template":"","meta":{"story_color":"#525250","story_headerImg":12224,"section_label":"Challenge. Change. Podcast","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[223,227],"displayed_author":[237],"featured":[],"topic":[243,259,150,161,220,221,176],"class_list":["post-12223","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clark-community","category-science-technology","displayed_author-melissa-hanson","topic-biochemistry-and-molecular-biology","topic-chemistry","topic-faculty","topic-food-and-farming","topic-major-in-biochemistry-and-molecular-biology","topic-major-in-chemistry","topic-podcast"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>Tasty teaching | ClarkU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2024\/11\/13\/tasty-teaching\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tasty teaching\" \/>\n<meta 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