Ask A Scientist Chemistry Archive

From:       williamh
Text:       What would be a good curriculum product for fifth grade students 
studying food chemistry?  After participating in a food chemistry unit what 
kind of culminating product would you suggest that would demonstrate an 
understanding of the important ideas of food chemistry?

Response #:  1 of 1
Author:      Robert Topper
Text:        Let me consult with my wife on this...when we lived in 
Minneapolis, she taught a short course at the St.Paul Science Museum in 
"kitchen Chemistry" for boys and girls in just that age group. I cannot recall 
all that she did...however, I seem to recall an interesting experiment where 
one could use the method of titration to measure how much Vitamin C is in 
various drinks (orange juice, lemonade, Hi-C, KoolAid, soda, etc) and without 
the use of any special equipment.  I have discussed this a bit with Gayle 
(who, I might add, has an MS in organic chemistry).  Basically, her course 
focused on experiments which could be done with food to heighten 10-13 year-
olds' understanding of chemistry.  A lot of work was done with acid-base 
chemistry (including the aforementioned titration, making pH indicators from 
boiled red cabbage and using it to test things, etc) and with carbon dioxide 
(she had them make pretzels dough, illustrating and enplaning the production 
of CO2 by the yeast, and let them take the dough home for heir parents to help 
them bake).  There was a whole sequence of studies and experiments done to 
reinforce the concepts of acid/base chemistry and the properties of CO2 other 
than the one I have mentioned.  It seemed very successful (the kids were 
interested) and some of them thought up their own experiments).  Several 
people have written me asking for more information on food science 
experiments.  Gayle is currently writing up the notes in her "spare time," of 
which there is not much.  But she IS working on it and we hope to have 
something put together within the next few months.  She is trying to do a nice 
job of it so that it will be useful.  We
envision mailing a copy of it to individual teachers, with the explicit 
understanding that it may ONLY be copied for educational purposes.  In other 
words, we are going to copyright it and distribute it to the people who can 
really use it.  If we get swamped and cannot afford the postage, we will 
either do a fundraiser or ask for a couple of dollars for postage.