This week we have been learning about the ancient Egyptians and the art of mummification. To show what effect mummification had on the body we are using baking soda and hot dogs to demonstrate this. This experiment takes 14 days to complete.
On day 0 we measured the length, circumference and weight of the hot dog and observed what it looked like.
On day 7 we repeat the measurements and observe the changes.
On day 14 we repeated the process.
Day 0
length 10cm
circumference 6cm
weight 20g
Appearance light brown, cold, wet, smooth
Day 7
length 8cm
circumference 5cm
weight 18g
Appearance darker, smaller, drier, still quite smooth
Day 14
length 7cm
circumference 4cm
weight 10g
Appearance very dark, dry, rubbery and bendy.
We found out that mummification shrinks the body and dries it out. This is how they have been preserved for thousands of years!
A mummy is a corpse whose skin and flesh have been preserved by chemicals or by exposure to the elements of weather. The ancient Egyptians believed that preserving the body was important because without the body, the previous owner's "ka," or life force, would always be hungry. It was important for a person's ka to survive so that he or she could enjoy the afterlife, or life after death. The ancient Egyptians started mummifying remains about 3500 BC.
This week we will be creating a Time Capsule for Lockdown 3 2021.
Today we made our Time Capsule and included our first objects.
We made posters to show people how to stay clean and safe and put tissues and sanitizer in our capsule.