This 7-page resource is intended for both students and teachers. It explains what spherification is and how the concepts of ions and ionic compounds, diffusion, and crosslinking help explain how popping boba is formed.
 
All of our anchor readings are intended to be used with our lesson plans. Our lesson plans may include specific prompts, questions, or activities related to the reading. 
 
However, these readings are great informative articles that can be used separately. 
 
 
Behind Our Anchor Readings:
Why: We believe a certain extent of content knowledge is required in order for these lessons to be successful. While we can certainly encourage students to do their own online research, often googling food science-related topics either shows 1) recipes or websites that are not highly vetted or 2) studies that are beyond the level of comprehension for students. These readings are meant to help disseminate and collect information.
 
Additionally, we believe that these anchor readings are helpful resources for educators to familiarize themselves with the science content behind this food/drink. 

 
How: We take a lot of pride in the work that goes into these anchor readings. To make them, we do extensive research, fact-checking, editing, and graphic design. Most of our anchor readings have long lists of references. When possible, we try to speak directly to experts. While we remove all in-text citations to make reading more accessible for students, all of our "behind the scenes" copies of our readings have in-text citations. Feel free to reach out to us if you have a specific question about something!