Elements - Fire, Wood, Metal, Water: Kitchenware

I remember sitting in Chemistry class and wondering about explosions.  On one hand, if I could make it look like I did it on purpose, no one got hurt, and I didn't get caught but all the students knew it was a prank pulled off by me, Fantastic!  (Hey I was a Junior looking to lower my geek factor)  On the other hand, what if I blew up the school, (missing a day of school is the only positive there) or got myself hurt, (again missing a day of school) or expelled (yes, I was terribly bored in school and looked for any excuse to miss a day) or looked even more like a geek because I was the only one to have it happen not on purpose. (Zero positives, expect getting sick from the embarrassment and missing a day of school :) 

The whole explosion thing was brought about from a discussion of how different elements interact)  In the kitchen, there is chemistry everywhere.  Don't believe me, catch a few episodes of "Good Eats."  But for our conversation, we will stay with the basic, What kind of spoon should I use?  Wood?  Plastic?  Metal?  Silicone?  The discussion is really based on the elements you will be working with.

Working with a hot pot and ingredients - Wood and Silicone holds up to heat very well and does not transfer it to your hands.  Also, they will not melt. Metal does not melt, but it will transfer the heat.  Plastic melts but does not transfer the heat.

Strong enough not to break - Wood, Silicone (if well made), Metal - hard to break.  Plastic breaks.  :)

Insulated - When you are working with some types of recipes in the future, like candy, you want to make sure that the utensil you are working with does not suck the heat out of your ingredients.  Your best bets here are Wood and Silicone.

Soft enough not to scratch your pots and pans - everything but metal, although wood may scratch some types of non-stick pans.

If you can't tell by now, I really like using wooden utensils, but ceramic is easier to clean.  Have fun and take your time trying out the different options depending on what you need.