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In her travels in Wonderland, Alice comes upon an unusual tea party attended by a Mad Hatter, a March Hare, and a Dormouse. She sees a very large table that is covered with cups and tea. The conversations at the Mad Tea-Party are very odd indeed. And she learns that time has stopped at 6 o'clock which means that they are always having tea. When they have finished telling all sorts of funny riddles and the tea on the table gets used up, they just move around to a different place at the table and start it all again!
In this activity, you'll experiment with different-sized containers for tea and you'll create your own special Wonderland drink recipe.
Did you know?
- Tea was used as far back as 2,337 BC. In China, monkeys were trained to pick tea leaves from hard to reach places.
- Tea cups come in many different shapes and sizes. And there are at least 3,000 varieties of tea available today.
- Chemists are scientists who experiment with different liquids to find out about how they mix together. If you enjoy today's activity, imagine what you might do if you became a chemist.
Materials: What You'll Need
- 6 different containers - you could use cups, bowls, a vase, a pan
- 3 liquids that are safe to drink
- set of measuring cups
- teapot or other container for pouring
- tray or cookie sheet
Activity: Try It!
- For the first part of your tea party experiment, you will find out about volume. Volume is the amount of liquid that a container can hold.
- To start, gather your six containers. Take a close look at them and then make a prediction about which container you think will hold the most water. Now predict which will hold the least amount of water? Put the containers on a tray or a cookie sheet in order from the one that will hold the least amount of water to the one that will hold the most.
- Now test your prediction. Fill the smallest container with water - be sure to fill it all the way to the top - and then pour it into the next larger container. Did it fit? Now fill the second one with water and pour it into the third. Was your prediction right? Sometimes containers can be deceiving. One container might be taller than another, but hold less water. Did this happen to you?
Try It, Again!
- After you have experimented with the volume and size of different containers, it's time to create a recipe for Wonderland tea to fill your teacup.
- Choose three drinks that you really like - for instance, cola, orange juice and milk. These will be the ingredients for your special tea. Use the measuring cups and decide how much of each drink you will use. You might choose equal amounts of each or you might use one half cup of milk and one quarter cup of orange juice and cola.
- Mix it up and give it a try! Do you like it? Try changing the amounts of each liquid and try it again. Which recipe do you like best?
- Be sure to write down your recipe so that when you want to make Wonderland tea again, you will be able to!
Connect It to Standards
"Objects have many observable properties, including size, weight, shape, color, temperature, and the ability to react with other substances. Those properties can be measured using tools, such as rulers, balances, and thermometers" (NSES Standards)
Adventure into the Newspaper
- Now that you have created a delicious drink, you must find words to tell other people about your new taste sensation. Look through the newspaper to find words that describe your drink. Put the words together to make an advertisement for your new creation.
- If you really like your new drink, you could start your own tea party drink business. Find the business section in the newspaper to get some tips about starting your own business. Look through the newspaper to find a cool name for your drink as well.
Find out More ...
Check out these cool books and Internet sites to learn more about tea party traditions and other wacky drinks.
http://www.stashtea.com/teafaq.htm
The Lady Who Put Salt in Her Coffee by Lucretia Hale
Taking Tea With Alice: Looking-Glass Tea Parties and Fanciful Victorian Teas by Dawn Hylton Gottlieb and Diane Sedo
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