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Most people think of baking as chemistry. Mix the right ingredients, add heat, and you get a cake. But there's a whole layer of physics happening inside that oven. Once you see it, baking gets a lot more interesting.This World Baking Day, here's what's actually going on.

The Physics of Baking (And Why Your Oven Is Doing More Than You Think)

The science behind

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Most people think of baking as chemistry. Mix the right ingredients, add heat, and you get a cake. But there's a whole layer of physics happening inside that oven. Once you see it, baking gets a lot more interesting.

There's one ingredient in your kitchen that's been around longer than the Roman Empire, longer than any recipe ever written down. Yeast has been with us for at least 5,000 years, which makes it older than most civilizations and almost certainly older than anything else on your kitchen shelf. And for most of that time, nobody knew it was alive.

Yeast is The Oldest Ingredient in Your Kitchen

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There's one ingredient in your kitchen that's been around longer than the Roman Empire, longer than any recipe ever written down. Yeast has been with us for at least 5,000 years, which makes it older than most civilizations and almost certainly older than anything else on your kitchen shelf. And for most of that time, nobody knew it was alive.

cake

There's something magical about baking. A baker takes simple ingredients like flour, water, sugar, eggs, and baking powder, mixes them up in a bowl, pops the mixture in the oven and - abra kadabra - out comes a beautiful, golden brown cake! It's amazing, but why does it work? Baking may seem like magic, but it's actually science in action! That delicious cake that comes out of the oven is the end result of all the chemical reactions that take place during the baking process. Read on to learn more about the chemistry behind your favorite cake!

Baking Science Explained: 3 Chemical Reactions Needed to Bake A Cake

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There's something magical about baking. A baker takes simple ingredients like flour, water, sugar, eggs, and baking powder, mixes them up in a bowl, pops the mixture in the oven and - abra kadabra - out comes a beautiful, golden brown cake! It's amazing, but why does it work? Baking may seem like magic, but it's actually science in action! That delicious cake that comes out of the oven is the end result of all the chemical reactions that take place during the baking process. Read on to learn more about the chemistry behind your favorite cake!

Look up in the sky! It's a bird. It's a plane? No, it's Super Bunny! Faster than a speeding fox, able to leap tall fences in a single bound, with ears that can hear a cry for help from miles away. That's right! Today we're going to learn all about the amazing, superhuman abilities of rabbits. As prey animals, rabbits have had to develop a lot of special abilities to help them survive, from super hearing and panoramic vision to powerful hind legs that can launch them as high as four feet into the air. Read on to discover five amazing facts about rabbits!

Super Bunnies: 5 Amazing Facts About Rabbits

Outdoor Activities

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Look up in the sky! It's a bird. It's a plane? No, it's Super Bunny! Faster than a speeding fox, able to leap tall fences in a single bound, with ears that can hear a cry for help from miles away. That's right! Today we're going to learn all about the amazing, superhuman abilities of rabbits. As prey animals, rabbits have had to develop a lot of special abilities to help them survive, from super hearing and panoramic vision to powerful hind legs that can launch them as high as four feet into the air. Read on to discover five amazing facts about rabbits!

There's so much to love about Spring. Longer days, warmer weather and, my personal favorite part, beautiful flowers blooming everywhere you look! Blooming flowers are such an iconic part of Spring that you probably never thought to question it. The seasons change, and plants that lay dormant through the winter spring suddenly to life! Why is that? How do plants know it's the right time to flaunt their flowers? The answer may surprise you. Read on to learn all about the amazing genetic science that powers your favorite flowers!

How Do Spring Flowers Know When to Bloom?

STEM

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There's so much to love about Spring. Longer days, warmer weather and, my personal favorite part, beautiful flowers blooming everywhere you look! Blooming flowers are such an iconic part of Spring that you probably never thought to question it. The seasons change, and plants that lay dormant through the winter spring suddenly to life! Why is that? How do plants know it's the right time to flaunt their flowers? The answer may surprise you. Read on to learn all about the amazing genetic science that powers your favorite flowers!

Spring is here! With the return of spring comes new flowers, chirping birds, and beautiful butterflies! It can be so much fun to sit outside and watch these delicate, colorful insects flutter from flower to flower. Don't judge them only by their looks though! There's more to butterflies than a pretty pair of wings. Butterflies have some truly amazing abilities, and come in all shapes, colors, and sizes. There are over 17,000 different kinds. Read on to learn all about these amazing insects!

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Spring is here! With the return of spring comes new flowers, chirping birds, and beautiful butterflies! It can be so much fun to sit outside and watch these delicate, colorful insects flutter from flower to flower. Don't judge them only by their looks though! There's more to butterflies than a pretty pair of wings. Butterflies have some truly amazing abilities, and come in all shapes, colors, and sizes. There are over 17,000 different kinds. Read on to learn all about these amazing insects!

5 Incredible Facts About Butterflies

Look up at the night sky and you might wonder how there came to be so many stars out there, shining brightly in the endless dark. You wouldn't be the first. Astronomy is one of the first recorded sciences practiced by early civilizations all over the world. Our prehistoric ancestors painted constellations on cave walls. Ancient Babylonians mapped the stars as early as 1000 B.C.E (over 3,000 years ago!). The early Greek astronomer, Aristarchus, first determined that Earth revolves around the sun in the second century B.C.E. In the 2000 years since, we've learned more about stars than the early astronomers could have possibly imagined. Today we know that stars evolve through a process, a life cycle, that plays out in six stages over billions of years. Want to know more? Read on to discover eveything you need to know about the six fascinating stages of a star's life!

A Star is Born: The Six Stages of a Star's Life Cycle

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Look up at the night sky and you might wonder how there came to be so many stars out there, shining brightly in the endless dark. You wouldn't be the first. Astronomy is one of the first recorded sciences practiced by early civilizations all over the world. Our prehistoric ancestors painted constellations on cave walls. Ancient Babylonians mapped the stars as early as 1000 B.C.E (over 3,000 years ago!). The early Greek astronomer, Aristarchus, first determined that Earth revolves around the sun in the second century B.C.E. In the 2000 years since, we've learned more about stars than the early astronomers could have possibly imagined. Today we know that stars evolve through a process, a life cycle, that plays out in six stages over billions of years. Want to know more? Read on to discover eveything you need to know about the six fascinating stages of a star's life!

The thing that makes New Year's Eve such an exciting holiday is that it's the only holiday that's celebrated by everyone, everywhere on Earth at roughly the same time. Every culture has its own unique New Year's traditions, but a whole lot of them involve fireworks and an unbelievably huge party! Have you ever wondered where the biggest, craziest, most extravagant New Year's Eve party can be found? Well wonder no more! Read on to discover which of these five blockbuster New Year's Eve parties is the biggest party the world has ever seen.

Which Country Throws The Biggest New Year's Eve Party?

Holiday

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The thing that makes New Year's Eve such an exciting holiday is that it's the only holiday that's celebrated by everyone, everywhere on Earth at roughly the same time. Every culture has its own unique New Year's traditions, but a whole lot of them involve fireworks and an unbelievably huge party! Have you ever wondered where the biggest, craziest, most extravagant New Year's Eve party can be found? Well wonder no more! Read on to discover which of these five blockbuster New Year's Eve parties is the biggest party the world has ever seen.

Christmas is, perhaps, the most widely celebrated holiday throughout the world. Each year, millions of people all over the world write letters to Santa, wrestle Christmas trees into their living rooms, wrap presents for friends and family, and take part in festive traditions like building gingerbread houses or singing Christmas carols. With so many people celebrating Christmas all over the world, it's no surprise that there are some wonderfully strange and surprising facts about Christmas that you might never have known. Luckily for you, we love hunting for strange and surprising facts that make us look super smart and interesting. Here are five of our favorite facts about Christmas that you can use to impress and astound your family during Christmas dinner!

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Christmas is, perhaps, the most widely celebrated holiday throughout the world. Each year, millions of people all over the world write letters to Santa, wrestle Christmas trees into their living rooms, wrap presents for friends and family, and take part in festive traditions like building gingerbread houses or singing Christmas carols. With so many people celebrating Christmas all over the world, it's no surprise that there are some wonderfully strange and surprising facts about Christmas that you might never have known. Luckily for you, we love hunting for strange and surprising facts that make us look super smart and interesting. Here are five of our favorite facts about Christmas that you can use to impress and astound your family during Christmas dinner!

5 Fun Facts About Christmas

Storytelling plays an important role in our Thanksgiving traditions. The tale of the first Thanksgiving is, after all, one of America's foundational myths. A tale of mutual survival and cooperation meant to inspire us to treat each other with kindness, gratitude, and generosity. Gathered around the dinner table with family and friends, we share stories from our lives. Our fondest memories, our achievements, our moments of gratitude. By sharing these stories, we strengthen the bonds we share with one another. It's this opportunity for connection, more so than the delicious food, that makes Thanksgiving so special to so many. Thanksgiving offers the opportunity to teach your children the value of stories, as well as the significant ways that a shift in perspective can alter our understanding of a story. To help you find a story that's right for you and your family, we've created a list of our favorite Thanksgiving stories appropriate for children of all ages. Our list includes the story of the first Thanksgiving told from two very different perspectives, stories that celebrate family and friendship, and stories that encourage us to be aware of and grateful for the many wonderful people that fill our lives with purpose and joy. Read on to discover our favorite Thanksgiving stories for kids!

5 Of Our Favorite Thanksgiving Books for Kids

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Storytelling plays an important role in our Thanksgiving traditions. The tale of the first Thanksgiving is, after all, one of America's foundational myths. A tale of mutual survival and cooperation meant to inspire us to treat each other with kindness, gratitude, and generosity. Gathered around the dinner table with family and friends, we share stories from our lives. Our fondest memories, our achievements, our moments of gratitude. By sharing these stories, we strengthen the bonds we share with one another. It's this opportunity for connection, more so than the delicious food, that makes Thanksgiving so special to so many. Thanksgiving offers the opportunity to teach your children the value of stories, as well as the significant ways that a shift in perspective can alter our understanding of a story. To help you find a story that's right for you and your family, we've created a list of our favorite Thanksgiving stories appropriate for children of all ages. Our list includes the story of the first Thanksgiving told from two very different perspectives, stories that celebrate family and friendship, and stories that encourage us to be aware of and grateful for the many wonderful people that fill our lives with purpose and joy. Read on to discover our favorite Thanksgiving stories for kids!

Nick

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