Science Fair Idea: Grass to Sugar

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prettypyro
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Joined: Thu Sep 09, 2021 11:58 am
Occupation: Student

Science Fair Idea: Grass to Sugar

Post by prettypyro »

Hi, my name is Lauren I am in 8th grade, and I am doing a science fair. I was asking my family for ideas, and my father talked about the winning project in his district during Middle School. The student had turned grass clippings from their lawn into sugar! I was wondering if anyone here did this project too, or knows how to do this. Thanks!
lmp1341
Former Expert
Posts: 79
Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2019 1:54 pm
Occupation: Student

Re: Science Fair Idea: Grass to Sugar

Post by lmp1341 »

Hello and welocme to Science Buddies!

This sounds like a really cool project, I think it may be along the lines of converting grass into cellulose to ultimately create biofuel or what is known as "grassoline". This sounds like it would have some very great environmental implications and could have a great application!

Here is a link where you can learn more about this conversion:
https://www.nersc.gov/news-publications ... -for-less/

Here's a project abstract from science buddies that talks about converting grass into ethanol, another type of fuel:
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... th-enzymes

Hope these are helpful in getting you started! If you have any other questions or want to keep us in the loop about how your project is coming along, feel free to reply to this message and one of our Experts will get back to you!

Happy sciencing!
Lmp1341
SciB
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Posts: 2066
Joined: Fri Feb 01, 2013 7:00 am
Occupation: Retired molecular biologist, university researcher and teacher
Project Question: I wish to join Scibuddies to be able to help students achieve the best science project possible and to understand the science behind it.
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Project Status: Not applicable

Re: Science Fair Idea: Grass to Sugar

Post by SciB »

Hi Lauren and welcome to scibuddies,

I have never heard of this project--at least not by that description. All plants contain some sugars (carbohydrates) naturally, so I don't know what your dad was talking about. Did you do a search for it? Sometimes there is a school or science fair website that describes winning projects, with some details. You can also do a search on Scibuddies because the archive has years worth of various types of information and you might find something that gives you the clue you need.

There have been projects in which 'biomass'--a technical name for any organic material--is converted into a form that can be digested by algae or fungi to produce some product. The biomass is broken down in some way to release the nutrients, including carbs and sugars, which the algae or fungi eat. They can later be harvested for oil or other chemicals.

I have no idea if this is what the "grass to sugar" project was about. Do some searching and see what you come up with, then post again and I will help you design some neat experiments.

Best wishes.
Sybee
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