AMOUNT:
CONCLUSIONS:
Question 1 . What is the main nutrient in the unknown?
Question 2. What are the controls in this investigation?
A collection of experiments that demonstrate biological concepts and processes.
Quantitative food tests.
Qualitative food tests will be familiar to teachers. There are some protocols available for making estimates of the quantity of different foodstuffs (protein, starch or reducing sugar) in certain foodstuffs.
September is Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, and it’s an ideal time to teach students about the benefits of healthy eating.
The percentage of children with obesity has more than tripled over the past 40 years. In fact, about one in five school-aged children (ages 6–19) are considered obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The Effects of Childhood Obesity
Children with obesity are more likely to have hypertension, high cholesterol and asthma, among other health conditions. They also have an increased risk of developing serious health problems as adults, like heart disease or type 2 diabetes. Childhood obesity can also have emotional consequences, such as low self-esteem, anxiety and depression.
Obesity doesn’t only affect children’s physical and mental health; it also has an adverse effect on their academic performance. Past research found that obese students, especially girls, tend to have lower test scores than their peers, are more likely to be held back a grade and are less likely to go on to college.
Food Science Experiments for Kids
While many factors contribute to childhood obesity, like genetics, metabolism and lack of exercise, adopting healthy eating habits can be effective at preventing the condition. The following food science experiments explore concepts like calories and fat to encourage students to make healthier food choices:
Fatty Foods
Objective: Learn a simple way to test the amount of fat in different foods.
Overview: Students will use the paper bag test to compare the amount of fat in apples, butter, potato chips and other foods. The experiment also provides an opportunity for students to learn the difference between unsaturated (good) and saturated (bad) fat, plus the effects of eating too much “bad” fat.
Source: Children’s Museum of Houston
Testing for Glucose and Starch
Objective: Use simple tests to determine the presence of glucose and starch in everyday foods.
Overview: All foods contain chemicals, and glucose and starch are among the most common ones. Before starting the experiment, use this article to explain the difference between starch and glucose, and their effects on the body. Then, conduct this experiment to find these chemicals in foods like marshmallows, peanut butter and applesauce.
Source: Discovery Education
Water Content in Fruits and Vegetables
Objective: Understand the nutritional value of the water content of fruits and vegetables; Encourage students to think about the properties of healthy foods.
Overview: Many fruits and vegetables contain water, but it doesn’t always mean they are filled with key vitamins and minerals. For this experiment, students will measure the water content of the fruits and vegetables, and compare the results to the food’s nutrient value. At the end of the experiment, they should know whether or not each food’s water content is associated with its nutritional value.
Source: education.com
How Greasy Are Your Potato Chips?
Objective: Investigate how much fat is in typical potato chips and potato crisps.
Overview: Potato chips is one of the most popular snacks, but some varieties contain an unhealthy amount of fat. In this experiment, students will look at four different kinds of chips and crisps to test how much fat each product contains. Be sure to explain how our body uses fat and the effects of consuming too much of it.
Source: Science Buddies
Energy Content of Food
Objective: Build a simple tool to determine the amount of calories in certain foods.
Overview: Designed for middle school students, this experiment explores concepts like calories, the caloric value of different foods and the amount of calories children should consume in one day. Students will build a simple calorimeter to measure the amount of heat given off when food is burned to determine the caloric value of bread, cheese and other food samples. This experiment requires students to burn the food using matches, so adult supervision is a must!
Demystifying the Sugar Buzz
Objective: Learn the different effects that sugar and starch have on the body.
Overview: Sugar enters the bloodstream faster than starch (found in foods like flour, potatoes and beans), causing a “sugar buzz.” This experiment will demonstrate how fast, or slow, sugar and starch pass into artificial blood.
Source: howstuffworks
Upcycling Food Scraps
Objective: Find low-cost, sustainable ways to grow and eat organic foods.
Overview: Buying healthy, or organic, produce can be expensive. This infographic from Whole Foods provides steps on using food scraps to easily regrow food. To demonstrate food upcycling, choose one of the foods listed in the infographic - like green onions, celery or sweet potatoes - and create a food garden in your classroom.
Source: Pinterest
Healthy eating is an effective way to prevent childhood obesity. These food science experiments are designed to encourage students to think about the foods they eat and how they affect their body. You can also check out our Healthy Choices Play Food Set to further help students practice making healthy food choices.
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Watermelon cupcakes.
Watermelon is a refreshing fruit that is packed with nutrients, like vitamins and amino acids. Watermelon cupcakes are a tasty, healthy snack for kids.
With the holidays coming up, children no doubt have ornaments and cookies on the brain. This activity combines them both!
July is National Ice Cream Month! Whether you like simple flavors like vanilla or more decadent ones like Cherry Chocolate Chunk, no one can oppose an ice cream celebration. And…
This lesson plan includes the objectives and prerequisites of the lesson teaching students how to describe chemical tests that are used to determine the type of nutrients present in food.
Students will be able to
Students should already be familiar with
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Test for reducing sugars
Test for non-reducing sugars
Test for protein
Test for starch
Test for fats and oils
5 boiling tubes
2 test tubes
3 dropping pipettes
Benedict's reagent
dilute hydrochloric acid (0.5 moldm -3 )
dilute sodium hydroxide solution/sodium bicarbonate
Biuret reagent
iodine-potassium iodide solution
absolute alcohol
glucose solution
sucrose solution
albumen solution
starch solution
Hazard | Risk | Control measure |
---|---|---|
Benedict’s reagent - irritant | Contact with eyes and skin | Eye: flood with tap water (10min) Skin: drench with water. Flood with tap water (10min) |
Biuret reagent - irritant | Contact with eyes and skin | Eye: flood with tap water (10min) Skin: drench with water. Flood with tap water (10min) |
Iodine-potassium iodide solution - irritant | Contact with eyes and skin | Eye: flood with tap water (10min) Skin: drench with water. Flood with tap water (10min) |
Absolute alcohol - flammable | Contact with eyes Contact with naked flame | Eye: flood with tap water (10min) Ensure no naked flames or other sources of ignition. |
Dilute hydrochloric acid - irritant | Contact with eyes and skin | Eye: flood with tap water (10min) Skin: drench with water. Flood with tap water (10min) |
Dilute sodium hydroxide - irritant | Contact with eyes and skin | Eye: flood with tap water (10min) Skin: drench with water. Flood with tap water (10min). |
Revision note.
Last updated
Food test for glucose (a reducing sugar).
Use this image
The Benedict's test for glucose
The iodine test for starch
Testing a potato to prove the presence of starch
The Biuret test for protein
The ethanol test for lipids
The DCPIP test for vitamin C
When describing food tests in exam answers, make sure you give the starting colour of the solution and the colour it changes to for a positive result.
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Lára graduated from Oxford University in Biological Sciences and has now been a science tutor working in the UK for several years. Lára has a particular interest in the area of infectious disease and epidemiology, and enjoys creating original educational materials that develop confidence and facilitate learning.
Using laboratory models to test the effects of foods.
One way of testing food compounds is by using laboratory models.
As part of the nutrigenomics project, researchers are trying to identify food compounds that are likely to be especially helpful (or harmful) for people with particular genetic combinations.
One of the ways they did this was by using laboratory models.
It would be inappropriate to directly test the effects of different food compounds using people. There are several reasons for this.
Firstly, it would be difficult to monitor the effects of only the food compounds, and not any other environmental factors (the person would have to live in a controlled environment for the duration of the experiment).
Secondly, all research needs to be repeatable. Because the way we respond to food is controlled partly by our genes, researchers would need to find several people who had exactly the same genotype . This would be impossible, as only identical twins have the same genes.
Thirdly, there are thousands of food compounds. You would either need a huge number of willing participants (all with the same genotype) to be able to test all the foods, or you would need to involve each person in a very long-term study (to test all the food compounds in isolation).
Then there are the ethical issues. No-one would agree to participate in the experiment unless they were assured that the tests were unlikely to cause significant harm. The researchers would not be able to guarantee this unless they already knew a lot about the responses that the food compounds are most likely to cause.
One way that the interactions between food and genes can be studied in a laboratory is by using a cell line. A cell line is a group of cells that grow and replicate continuously in vitro in a laboratory.
Cells in a cell line are immortal . They will keep growing for as long as they have sufficient nutrients. However, they will always only ever be individual cells. They will never be able to grow to become a whole organism.
Cell lines are useful for research because every cell in a cell line has identical genes (all the cells originate from one cell). This means that they should all respond in exactly the same way to a particular treatment, allowing for repeatability.
In addition, different groups of cells from a cell line can be used for testing different molecules.
In the case of nutrigenomics , the effects of food compounds are tested. By using a cell line, a huge number of different food compounds can be tested in a relatively short time.
In the nutrigenomics project, cell lines will be used to test the effects of thousands of different food compounds. The cell lines need to behave as closely as possible to cells from a person who has a particular genetic predisposition.
The New Zealand researchers are first studying the effects of different foods on people who have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
The cell lines that are used to test the foods need to behave as much as possible like cells from someone who has IBD.
Genetic engineering techniques are used to insert copies of gene variants associated with IBD into the cells.
Remember, though, that these cells will never be able to be anything other than individual cells. They cannot grow into an organism.
Cells are tiny and can usually only be seen with a microscope. It is even more difficult to tell what is going on inside cells. The researchers need to have a way of measuring the effects that the food compounds have on cells.
A reporter gene is inserted into the cells. The reporter gene is selected because of its ability to produce a reaction that researchers can measure. Often the luciferase gene is used. This is a gene that is found in fireflies. It causes luminescence, or glowing, when it is activated. Researchers can tell the effect that a food compound has on a cell by whether or not the cells glow. The amount of glowing is measured by a machine called a luminometer.
A cell line will not behave exactly in the same way as cells that are part of a whole body. However, the results from the cell line tests allow researchers to make better predictions about the effects food compounds might have on people with particular genes.
Laboratory animals can also provide a useful way of testing the effects of foods. Rats and mice are particularly useful because they reproduce very quickly.
Planned breeding programmes can ensure that the mice have particular genetic characteristics (something that can’t be done with human participants). Inbred strains allow for replication of experiments.
Environmental factors can also be easily controlled (compared with controlling the environment of a human participant).
All research carried out using animals needs to be done according to strict ethical guidelines. This is to protect the welfare of the animals.
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Simple chemical tests can identify a number of important compounds in food. Some tests measure the presence of a substance in food, while others can determine the amount of a compound. Examples of important tests are those for the major types of organic compounds: carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Here are step-by-step instructions to see if ...
Procedure: To test the presence of carbohydrates, proteins, fats and oils in the given food sample, first the extract of the given foodstuff should be prepared. Dry the given foodstuff in the mortar with a pestle or by boiling with minimum quantity of water extracting with a small quantity of an organic solvent after grinding the foodstuff.
Flipped learning lesson on this food tests lab HERE: http://sciencesauceonline.com/bio/food-tests/Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sciencesa...
We can test for the presence of these important compounds in food by using chemical reagents that react in predictable ways in the presence of these nutrients. Work in an area appropriate for handling chemicals that may stain furniture or the floor if spilled. Wear proper safety equipment including goggles, rubber gloves and a lab apron.
The objective of this experiment is to test various food samples whether or not they contain mineral matter, fat, vitamin A, cholesterol, carbohydrates and protein, and to determine specific nutrients found in each sample. Fruit juice, raw egg yolk, peanuts tested negative for mineral matter, margarine, raw egg yolk, and peanuts tested positive ...
Explore Nutrition Science Projects (10 results) Explore Nutrition Science Projects. (10 results) Through kitchen chemistry, discover for yourself nutritional content in your food. Design a method to extract and measure substances in a food or drink. Or do a hands-on experiment to test how a nutrient works. Electrolyte Challenge: Orange Juice Vs ...
Identifying Food Nutrients
Food Tests. Aim: To use qualitative reagents to test for a range of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins. To include: Benedict's test for sugars, Iodine test for starch, the emulsion test for lipids and the Biuret reagent for protein. You will: Use qualitative reagents to test for the presence of key biological molecules in a range of foods.
Test food for nutrients like Vitamin C, glucose, and lipids using the simple chemistry tests in this food chemistry science project! Back to HST Home Page; ... Home Science Experiments for Preschoolers Home science experiments for preschoolers are a great way to pique your child's curiosity, teach them valuable knowledge, and allow them to ...
the Benedict's solution will stay blue. Q3. Put the method for testing if reducing sugars are present, in the right order. 1. - Grind the food into small pieces using a pestle and mortar. 2. - Add a few drops of distilled water to the sample to create a suspension. 3. - Transfer the suspension into a boiling tube.
Proteins, carbohydrates, and fats serve as nutrients in the food that we eat. In this experiment you will evaluate the nutrient content of unidentified food samples. You will use chemical reagents to test the unknown for specific nutrients. By comparing the color change a reagent produces in the unknown with the change it produces in the known ...
Quantitative food tests . Qualitative food tests will be familiar to teachers. There are some protocols available for making estimates of the quantity of different foodstuffs (protein, starch or reducing sugar) in certain foodstuffs. Experiments. Quantitative food test: protein content of powdered milk
The following food science experiments explore concepts like calories and fat to encourage students to make healthier food choices: Fatty Foods . Objective: Learn a simple way to test the amount of fat in different foods. Overview: Students will use the paper bag test to compare the amount of fat in apples, butter, potato chips and other foods.
Objectives. Students will be able to. state that food tests are used to identify nutrients that are in food products, describe how solid samples are prepared to carry out food tests, describe the tests for starch, sugar, lipids, and proteins as iodine, Benedict's reagent, ethanol/emulsion, and Biuret respectively, describe the expected ...
01:51 What do you observe? 01:58 Can you explain why the Benedict's test was negative at first, and then positive after adding acid, heating and adding alkali? Test for protein. 02:06 What colour is Biuret reagent at the start? 02:23 What colour is the solution after adding Biuret reagent?
Test for lipids (fats) Mix the food sample with 4cm3 of ethanol and shake. Allow time for the sample to dissolve in the ethanol. Strain the ethanol solution into another test tube. Add the ethanol solution to an equal volume of cold distilled water (4cm3) A positive test will show a cloudy emulsion forming. The ethanol test for lipids.
Adding specific reagents to small amounts of common foods and. observing their reactions allows us to determine the presence of key nutrients in the. sample food: sugar, starch, protein, Vitamin C, chloride, and fat. The purpose of this lab. is to learn about the nutritional composition of various foods taken from the average.
4.1.2 Food Tests | CIE IGCSE Biology Revision Notes 2023
Learn and revise everything you need to know about how to test for nutrients in our food for your GCSE and IGCSE exams. Discover how we can use Iodine soluti...
Add to collection. One way of testing food compounds is by using laboratory models. As part of the nutrigenomics project, researchers are trying to identify food compounds that are likely to be especially helpful (or harmful) for people with particular genetic combinations. One of the ways they did this was by using laboratory models.
The document summarizes an experiment that tested various foods for common nutrients. Tests were conducted on foods like fruit juice, eggs, peanuts, and rice to detect minerals, fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. The results found that margarine, eggs, and peanuts contained fat, while juices, eggs, peanuts, and rice contained carbohydrates. Tests also indicated that eggs, peanuts, rice, and ...