Six Easy Bites - Food Experiment Solutions
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The following are solutions to the food experiments in the
4-H Foods Project, "Six Easy Bites" for Pennsylvania. These
have been modified from the Purdue Leader's Guide. Please note
that those questions in the project book that have "no right
answer" or involve personal feelings are not listed in this text.
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1a: Mama Mia Pizza Pockets
3: What other combination foods can you think of that you could
use at breakfast?
Some ideas include leftover casseroles, tacos, sandwiches (such
as toasted cheese), milk and fruit shakes.
1b. Bone Up on Calcium
1. Which bone bent easily? Why?
The bone soaking in vinegar bent easily because the vinegar
dissolved the calcium in the bone. Vinegar is an acid.
Calcium makes a bone hard, so when it is removed, the bone bends
easily.
2. Which part of the bone became soft first?
The ends of the bone become soft first because it is the growing
end of the bone which is "softer" due to the nature of the cell
structure.
3. Why did you have one bone in the water and one in the vinegar?
The bone in the water is the "control." Water does not dissolve
calcium so it provides a measure, or a means to compare how much
another liquid affects bone hardness.
4. What might happen to your bones if you don't get enough calcium
from the foods you eat?
Your bones may weaken and break easily, and you would not grow
properly. In older people brittle bones are part of a condition
known as osteoporosis.
1c. Where is the Carbo?
1. Record the color change and check which of the foods you
tested contained starch.
bread purplish-black starch-yes
milk yellow-brown starch-no
raw potato purplish-black starch-yes
cooked potato almost black starch-yes*
apple yellow-brown starch-no**
carrot brownish starch-no
green bean yellow-brown starch-no
uncooked macaroni purplish-black starch-yes
ripe banana yellow-brown starch-no**
unripe banana purplish-black starch-yes
*Cooked potato: Has more carbohydrates available to react with
the iodine because the plant cell walls are broken down during
cooking: hence there is a stronger color reaction than for the raw
potato.
**The apple and ripe banana have starch carbohydrates in the form
of sugar. Iodine does not test for this type of carbohydrate, so
there is no color change. An unripe apple or unripe banana gives
a positive result for iodine because the starch has not yet been
converted to sugar.
1d. Snackin' Power
Answers to questions 1-3 may vary.
4. How many calories do you need every day?
A. The average 10-year old boy or girl, needs approx. 2,000
calories per day.
The average 11-year old boy needs approx. 2,500 calories
per day.
The average 11 year old girl needs approx. 2,200 calories
per day.
2a. Tune into Ads
1. How long did you watch TV or read a magazine?
Answers vary, but research shows that children watch an
average of four hours of television every day. This includes after
school, evenings and Sunday mornings. For the child reading
the magazines, ask them what percentage of the publication is
advertisement. In some cases it is as much or more than 50%!
2. How many different foods were advertised?
Answers vary with the time of day the television is viewed.
Saturday morning has the highest concentration of commercials.
Approximately 55% of all ads targeted at children are for food
products.
3. What do commercials have in common?
All commercials want to sell the consumer a product. In some
cases, advertisers create an "image" to make consumers want a
product even though they may not need it.
4. How did the commercials sell their message?
There are several devises advertisers use to create an "image":
jingles, attention grabbers, animated characters or celebrities,
giveaway promotions and power terminology (words). Advertising
techniques include: visual familiarity and repetition.
2b. Sweet Sugary Search
2. What types of food products have the most sugars? Are these
foods natural or processed
A. Those belong to the "other" food category, such as store
bought cookies, some breakfast cereals and soda beverages.
Most of these foods are processed.
3. What ways can you think of to cut back on the amount of
processed sugar you eat? What foods would you eat?
Eat fewer foods that contain sugar
Eat smaller servings of foods that contain sugar
Substitute fruit for sweet desserts
Substitute raw vegetables to munch on, such as carrot and
celery sticks, broccoli and cauliflowerets, etc.
2c. Juicy Juice
1. Which drink has sugar as the main ingredient?
A. Orange soda
2. Which drink has the most real fruit juice in it?
A. Frozen orange juice concentrate.
3. Which drink has the most ingredients?
A. Orange soda
4. What are they?
A. Carbonated water, sugar, and/or corn syrup,
citric acid, natural flavorings, artificial color,
sodium benzoate as a preservative.
Dig Deeper-Fruit Juice Label
A. Name of the fruit juice used, water and carbonated
water. Ingredients are listed in descending order of
how much they weigh in the food product.
2d. Making Brownie Cents
1. Which brownies were easiest to make?
A. Pre-packaged box mix.
2. Which brownies took the longest to make?
A. Homemade brownies, because time was spent gathering
ingredients, time to measure and put away ingredients,
additional equipment to clean-up.
3. Which brownies cost more?
Answer varies, but homemade may cost more, depending on the
ingredients used. The cost of the ingredients should be
estimated as best as possible. Be sure the pre-packaged box
mix makes the same amount of brownies as the homemade box. If
not, the cost must be divided by the number of servings in
each batch to be able to compare cost per serving.
Dig Deeper-Specialty Mixes
The cost of adding peanut putter chips yourself should be less
than for a pre-packaged brownie specialty mix. This is a difficult
question, because you can't always find a package that contains
just what you need to put in a recipe (and what are you going to do
with any remaining ingredient?). In addition, you may be able to
buy the pre-packaged brownie mix on sale or with a coupon
reduction.
3a. Compare the micro-baked potato to the oven baked potato for taste,
texture, time to cook and time saved.
oven baked taste-good, soft inside crispy skin Time: 45-60 min
micro baked good, soft inside and out Time: 8 min +
5 min standing time
Time Saved: 30-45 min.
2. Which preparation method makes the best use of your time:
A. Micro-baked; however, by planning ahead, some families can
do other things while the potato is baking in a conventional
oven. Thus for some families, that is a better use of time
than sitting around for 13 minutes, waiting for the micro-baked
potato.
Dig Deeper
1. What happens when you try to make more than one micro-baked
potato? A. They take much more time than for one potato.
2. How much more time does it take to bake two or four potatoes?
Two potatoes require 8-10 minutes to cook. Four potatoes
require 14-18 minutes. Five potatoes require 18-22 minutes
to cook in the microwave oven.
3b. The Right Measure
1. Which cookie category do Colossal Chocolate Chunk Cookies
belong to: A. Drop Cookie
My Discoveries
1. Compare the two batches of muffins
First Batch: round top; slightly bumpy appearance. Slightly
sweet; moist flavor; moist and tender interior; fine and even
holes.
Second batch: flatter, not as big; slightly sweet,
moist flavor; dense and coarse interior, uneven holes.
2. What is the biggest differences between the two batches?
A. Outside appearance; the second batch did not rise as much
as the first batch, so it is flatter and coarser.
3. Can you explain the results?
Letting the muffin batter stand in the mixing bowl for 25 min.
allowed the baking powder (leavening agent) to form almost all
the carbon dioxide before the batter was poured into the baking
pan. When the batter finally was poured into the pan, much of
the gas was lost. That resulted in muffins that did not rise
as high. If it is necessary for a quick bread batter to stand,
pour it into a baking pan, cover the filled baking pan and
store in the refrigerator no more than 45 minutes.
Dig Deeper-No baking powder
Muffins do not rise if there is no leavening agent. These
muffins are even flatter than the ones that were left to stand
for 25 minutes before baking.
3d. Pancakes Anyone?
1. Why did you stir the batter just until it was "wet"?
A. Overstirring produces holes in the cooked pancakes because
there is too much air and liquid in the product.
3. Which preparation method costs less to make?
A. Costs vary depending which ingredients/baking mix is on
sale. Some baking mixes or pancake mixes may include eggs.
4a. The Incredible Experimental Egg
1. How did the eggs at room temperature differ from the ones
that were refrigerated uncovered?
A. Eggs at room temperature spread further when cracked open
and have larger air cells than those that are refrigerated.
2. How did the uncovered eggs in the refrigerator differ
from ones that were in the carton?
A. Uncovered eggs spread farther when cracked open and had
larger air cells than those that were stored in the carton.
3. How can you use what you've discovered?
A. Store eggs at home in the refrigerator in their carton.
Dig Deeper
Store eggs in the original carton in the refrigerator and not in
the refrigerator door. Store eggs with the more rounded side up.
For best quality, eggs should be used within a week after purchase
and never stored longer than five weeks.
4c. Spoilers in Action
1. How long did it take for you to notice something was different?
A. Some members may notice differences within 24 hours.
2. Which milk showed differences first?
A. Room temperature milk.
3. How could you tell something was different?
A. The warm milk has thick white lumps in it (curdling), and
it smells sour.
4. What is the solid stuff in the spoiled milk?
A. Protein (casein). Bacteria sour milk by turning the
milk's natural sugar (lactose) into lactic acid. The
acid curdles the protein in milk. Eventually enough
lactic acid builds up so the bacteria die. Then other
microbes grow: molds, yeasts and bacteria begin to grow.
5. Can you predict when the refrigerated milk will spoil? Why?
A. No. The activity shows that cooler temperatures slow
down bacterial growth, but the milk eventually spoils.
Opening the jar to smell the milk introduces bacteria.
It is not possible to put an exact time on when spoilage
occurs because it depends on such factors as where the milk
container is located in the refrigerator. For example,
foods stored on the door will be subject to more
temperature changes than food stored at the back of a
shelf.
Dig Deeper-Different Milk
Answers vary. But in general skim milk becomes solid the fastest
because there is more protein to curdle. Chocolate milk is
thicker and contains more sugar, so it spoils faster, too. The
time it takes for spoilage to occur also varies with the type of
bacteria, mold, and yeast that form on the milk once the lactic
acid builds up.
Dig Deeper-Boiling Milk
Spoilage takes much longer to occur in the boiled milk because
boiling destroys bacteria and other living microbes in the milk.
However, the milk eventually spoils and the fat can become
rancid as well. Note: if a member fails to but a lid on the jar
of boiled milk, the milk will spoil as quickly as in the original
experiment.
4d. Foaming Juice
1. How long did it take for the apple juice to turn into vinegar.
A. Several days to a week depending on the air temperature.
2. Do you think using baking powder would give the same result?
A. Answers vary; however even though baking powder contains
sodium bicarbonate (baking soda, it is not present in a
strong enough concentration to get a reaction.
3. What can you use vinegar for:
A: Add sourness to foods, such as coleslaw
To pickle foods, such as cucumbers or tomatoes
In marinades to tenderize meat (acid breaks down meat
fibers)
In salad dressings along with oil and spices for flavoring
4. Take a look at the vinegar label? What is it made of?
A. Usually vinegar is made from apple cider.
Dig Deeper--Use other juice
Different starting beverages produce vinegars with different
tastes, colors and aromas. Vinegar can be made from a wine,
fermented apple cider or rice wine. Note: The bacteria consume
the alcohol and release acetic acid. There is no alcohol in
vinegar.
5a. You be the judge
1-2 Have "no one right answers".
3. What recommendations would you give to the person in your
family that usually freezes food.
A. Packing materials should be moisture vapor resistant,
strong and not easily broken, right for the food,
selected to take up the least amount of storage space,
easy to fill, close, and empty, easy to label, sealed
with freezer tape or a tight fitting lid, and free of
excess air.
Dig Deeper-Ice Cream
The ice cream carton without the additional sheet of plastic film
develops an off flavor quicker than the one with it. The flavor
is best described as "freezer taste." In addition, because ice
cream is a foam, the ice cream deteriorates into a gummy texture
ice crystals. The plastic film prevents air from getting into the
package.
5b. The Soggy Saga of a Sandwich
1. How are the two frozen sandwiches different?
A. One sandwich is in a reclosable plastic freezer bag; the
other is in waxed paper or a simple fold-over top baggy.
2. How can you avoid freezer burn?
A. Package the food so freezer air and moisture will not
affect it.
5d. Scream for Ice Cream?
1. How much ice cream did you end up with in the coffee can?
A. Twice as much as when the twirling started.
2. Why did you end up with more ice cream?
A. Twirling the spoon handle incorporated air into the cream.
3. Why did you salt the crushed ice?
A. To get the ice colder so the ice cream would freeze?
Ice cream freezes at 27 degrees F., but ice starts to melt
at 32 degrees F. Salt lowers the freezing point of water.
Mixing salt with the ice makes a substance with a freezing
point of about 23 degrees F. If the coffee can contained
just ice, the ice would melt quickly to an ice-water mixture
and the ice cream would not freeze.
6a. What is my Line?
1-3-Answers will vary.
4. What suggestions did you get on how to get a head start?
A. Possible suggestions include: volunteering, part-time job
after school, reading or talking to more people who work in the
field.
Dig Deeper-Finding out More
If the member is having a difficult time finding information, most
libraries have an "Occupational Outlook Handbook" which is written
by the U.S. Department of Labor that can provide employment
statistics, job forecasts, potential earnings, etc.
6b. The Chain Gang
Dig Deeper-Pick a Business
Answers will vary. Most food processing companies have many
of the following: food scientists, food technologists, quality
control personnel, managers, supervisors, home economists/
dietitians, maintenance-repair-production line workers, packers,
shippers and truckers.
Contact for questions
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Updated 8/16/05