When scientists make ice cream, they only need three ingredients: sugar, cream and ice-cold liquid nitrogen.

That was one of the lessons sixty local Grade 10 students learned Thursday when they visited McMaster for a day of science-related activities.

The all-girl group visited the McCallion Planetarium and played science trivia before joining McMaster students for a number of experiments, including making silly putty, watching what happens when corn starch and water mix (it’s much more interesting than you’d think!) and making their own ice cream using liquid nitrogen cooled to -200 degrees celsius.

Sara Cormier, outreach coordinator for the Department of Physics and Astronomy, explains two of the experiments below: