Candlemaking Created by Emily Ritchie, Garden Educator Claire Lilienthal Alternative School, San Francisco Unified School District

Transcription

1 Candlemaking Created by Emily Ritchie, Garden Educator Claire Lilienthal Alternative School, San Francisco Unified School District LESSON SUMMARY In this lesson, students will learn how to make candles from beeswax while gaining an appreciation for material cycles and making by hand. LESSON OBJECTIVES Students will be able to: Identify where beeswax candles come from Understand the process involved in making beeswax candles Successfully create their own candles Plant a pollinator attracting plant Engage in a conversation comparing hand-made vs mass produced goods ASSESSMENTS Students will... Successfully make a candle from beeswax Be able to describe the process of candlemaking, from origin of material to candle. Beeswax (You can buy it in bags of pellet size, great source in San Francisco: Her Majesty s Secret BeeKeeper in the Mission). Hot pad/portable burner Double Boiler: Large pot and tin can Wick Beehive (optional) Piece of honeycomb (optional) Pot holder BEFORE YOU BEGIN Test out making candles at home to familiarize yourself with the process and see where any complications could arise. Read about melting wax (see resource section). This is the most dangerous part of candlemaking and should be taken seriously. It s very easy to melt wax properly, but you need to make sure to use a double boiler. Make sure the bottom of the tin can is not touching the bottom of the pot. I used a small, metal hot plate that

2 looked like a stove-top burner on feet, through which water could circulate. This prevented the bottom of the the tin can from making a hot seal with the bottom of the pot. Wax has a flash point and will ignite if it reaches 300 degrees. Candlemaking is totally doable with students and very easy, just make sure to know what s necessaary to do it safely. Cut pieces of wick to desired candle length, leaving at least an extra inch for the wick at the top. Try to find other adult volunteers to help supervise this activity. Candlemaking is not dangerous, but the hot wax and burner should be treated with respect! In your double boiler, allow the wax to melt before class begins. PROCEDURES INTRO: Ask: What things can bees help us make? What materials do they give us? Today, we ll be using a material that we could gather right here in our garden to learn the ancient art of candle making. Share brief history: Candles have been used for thousands of years, first examples being found in China in 221 BC! Were sole source of artificial light until early 1900 s. Originally, they were made from tallow (derived from cow and sheep fat), but in the middle ages they began to be made out of beeswax. This proved to be a much better material, but was much more scarce. Candles can be made from a multidue of materials, beeswax is only one. Some other examples include whale oil, wax from seeds, insects and cinnamon, and even the eulachon smelt fish! Beeswax: o Is made from abdominal secretions of honeybee workers (all workerbees are female). o Use beewax to build their honeycomb, in which they raise their young and store pollen and honey. o 10 lbs of honey yields 1 lb of wax o Is a very precious resource that takes an incredible amount of energy for the honeybees to make. If you have one, take a brief visit to your beehive for students to make a visual connection to where this material comes from. Or, pass around a piece of honeycomb. CANDLEMAKING: Many kinds of candlemaking. The kind we re making are called hand-dipped tapers. Demonstrate how to dip the candles at the double boiler stations where the wax is already melted. Talk about the importance of safety around hot wax and heating implements. Each student can take a turn dipping their wick into the melted wax. Having two/three students at a time on each pot of wax can work if they take turns dipping. This also allows a little time for the candle to cool between dips, which is ideal to continue building wax mass, instead of having the wax stay too hot and melt off.

3 Dip wick with beeswax until the desired candle-thickness is reached! If you have time, let them make more than one! Experiment with different lengths and shapes. If desired, when the candles are still warm, students can press decorations into them. We used seeds! Make a note to them that if they use decorative materials, the candles should be looked after when burning to avoid any potential fire hazard. For that matter, make sure students know to never leave candles unattended when burning. If you have extra time at the end of the lesson, or to provide stations to rotate between with large numbers of students: have a pollinator attraction planting station where students can plant plants that honeybees are fond of. Reinforce the idea of building habitat in our landscapes to produce sustainable materials. CLOSING: Prompts for reflection: o What did you notice about this material while crafting with it? How would you describe it? o Did you notice any techniques that helped your candlemaking? o How do these candles compare to machine made ones? What are similarities and differences you notice? o Do you think it s important to know where our things come from? Why or why not? o What do you prefer, making things by hand or buying things? Why? o What else can you imagine making with beeswax? RESOURCES Some helpful websites, their processes will vary: Another hand-dipped tapers process: Wax melting safety information: Video of hand-dipped taper process: Candlemaking basics: Candlemaking general information:

4

5