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Food Science

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 4:03 pm
by yara289
we have decided on "How Much Baking Powder Do Quick Breads Need?" for our project. The teacher said she did not want a "demonstration" project, does this qualify as a scientific project? whats the difference, thanks, yc

Re: Food Science

Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2014 2:14 pm
by SandbaggerOne
Hi yara289,

The difference between a demonstration and an experiment is that a demonstration simply illustrates some kind of scientific phenomenon, for example, baking soda and vinegar when combined produce a chemical reaction that absorbs heat (or is endothermic) and produces carbon dioxide gas. An experiment takes what we know and makes an informed guess (hypothesis) about how changing the system will affect the outcome.
So, for your project you need a variable (something to change) and a way to measure the outcome. One possible way to go would be to make the hypothesis that amount of baking soda affects how much the bread rises and then test it by making several batches with different amounts of baking soda and measuring how much the bread rises. You could also hypothesize that temperature affects how much (or how quickly) the bread rises for a given amount of baking soda. In that case you would vary the temperature in some way and measure how much it rises and how long it takes to reach maximum rise. These hypotheses are based on knowledge of the underlying chemical reaction that makes quick bread rise. You should research the reaction involved (I gave a hint above) if you want to do this project and come up with a suitable hypothesis, test it, and then interpret the results to learn something about the way the system works. Now if the teacher thinks this is not a challenging or complex enough project then that is another issue but I hope I have given you an idea of how to construct a project that will actually be an experiment.

Cheers,
Colin

Re: Food Science

Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2014 6:29 pm
by yara289
Colin, thank-you, you have been most helpful, yc