Severn News

Lessons in Severn Chemistry

6/22/2026

This winter, a group of Upper School students formulated the perfect solution for cross-divisional collaboration: a mixture of science, sugary drinks, and peer teaching.

Initiated by Upper School Science Teacher Natasha Safaee and Lower School Science Teacher Heather Mayer, about a dozen older students volunteered to host the second- and fourth-grade classes for a lab during Admiral Hour.

The goal? To step into the role of instructor and spark a positive reaction with the younger students. Hypothesis? It would be a fun experience for all involved.

What Makes Yeast Burp?

Excitement bubbled over as the Lower School students filed into Creeden 203 on lab day. After a few “Would You Rather” icebreakers warmed up the room, the newly formed lab teams quickly got down to the elements of their experiment.

Working in groups of four, the younger scientists learned the basics of yeast. As one Lower School student aptly explained, it is the magical ingredient that “makes bread poof up.” The core hypothesis of the day centered on a question guaranteed to make science fun: What sweet drinks make yeast burp the biggest?

Guided by their Upper School mentors, the young scientists measured equal amounts of yeast into two test tubes. They used water as a control in the first tube, then added their assigned sugary liquid—Gatorade, apple juice, or soda—to the second. To cap things off, they wrestled uninflated balloons over the tubes to trap the resulting “burps” and placed the kits in the incubator.

While waiting for the resulting reaction, the Lower Schoolers drew “yeast buddies” on their lab reports and chatted easily with their older lab partners. Fifteen minutes later, the results inflated. Lab leaders retrieved the tubes, and the teams analyzed which sugary drink caused the biggest balloon-expanding burps, recording their data on official lab reports.

Conclusion: Success

The ultimate conclusion? The cross-divisional lab was an absolute hit. Lower School students wrote summaries of their experience, which included plenty of evidence that while the science was interesting, the most memorable reaction was the connection with older students.

For Heidi ’34, the lab was a chance to reconnect with a senior prefect who visited her class last spring, adding that it was “really cool how the balloon got air in it.”

“I learned that yeast likes sugar, and when they eat sugar, they burp!” wrote Collins ’34.

The older students clearly made an impact. Maggie ’34 noted the “best part was being with older students,” while Betsy ’36 “loved learning with the Upper Schoolers because it was so fun and they were so nice!”

Regis ’34 summed up the day’s successful formula perfectly: He “enjoyed working with the Upper Schoolers because they were really funny and made a lot of jokes,” while also finding it “interesting to learn about yeast and how it only burps to sugary drinks.”

This story originally appeared in the Spring 2026 issue of The Bridge - click here to see the digital version.

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