Question Regarding Science Experiment: Making Maple Syrup Candy: How Does Temperature Affect It?

[Kstartz1]

I have a question regarding the science experiment: Making Maple Syrup Candy: How Does Temperature Affect It? I want to confirm the question/problem of the experiment as well as the dependent variable. My son is working on this project, and came up with the following question: How does temperature affect the type of candies maple syrup makes? The dependent variable he used is the type of candies maple syrup makes which is dependent upon the independent variable of the 5 different temperature ranges. He followed the step by step procedure and measured and analyzed all of the characteristics/attributes of the maple syrup including color, transparency, feel, caramelization, flexibility, taste, hue, saturation, brightness, and consistency. He created his data tables and graphs based upon his findings and appears to have done an accurate and thorough experiment. However, he is now being told that he should have only focused on one variable, consistency (is that a variable or 1 of many characteristics of maple syrup?). My question is...is this even feasible? I thought consistency was only one attribute of maple syrup, and only measuring the stiffness/firmness seems unreasonable to me. If he leaves out the other 9 characteristics (color, taste, hue...), then his experiment will be incomplete and inaccurate. I know the grades of maple syrup depend on the maple syrup's color and flavor/taste, so those are obviously two very important attributes as well. In order to complete the data analysis and provide quantitative data with an average; the hue, saturation, and brightness had to be converted from categorical data to numeric data using the color picker tool. I am reaching out to know your thoughts on this, because I do not believe he can complete an accurate and quality presentation based on only 1 of 10 total characteristics of maple syrup. If he did that, and only measured consistency, then his entire project would be lacking important information as a whole, missing all numeric data, and over 50% of the experiment would be eliminated as outlined in Science Buddies. Please advise...thank you for taking the time to research and respond!

[deleted-808975]

Normally in stem fair projects( I’ve had to do them since 4th grade and I’m currently in 10th) you only focus on one variable to change. So if heat is what your son wanted to change, then he would have to focus only on one property that the heat is impacting.
Like does higher temperature impact the color of the candy? I hope this helps.

[Kstartz1]

Thank you for your prompt response! I do have a couple other questions...if he only uses one characteristic (for example, color) to measure and analyze, wouldn't that make this a beginner/elementary level project by eliminating the other 9 attributes of the maple syrup? The question would be "How does temperature affect the color of maple syrup candies?" which is very simple and does not give you much data at all to report on. How would he be able to create a thorough/quality project and data analysis using only the following information: honey colored, light brown, medium brown, brown, and dark brown colors? How would you create a data table with a mean/average with only categorical/qualitative data? You would have no numeric/quantitative data to work with; and therefore, a mean could not be calculated (but is required) {The only quantitative data in this experiment is when the hue, saturation, and brightness are converted to numeric data using the color picker. So if that data is eliminated, how can an average be calculated...(based upon color)?} I'm confused as to why the procedure has you following 13 different steps which analyze all 10 characteristics of maple syrup, but he should only focus and report on one...which is categorical data only? I'm just trying to get a clear understanding, so that he completes an accurate and quality project. Thank you again for your assistance!

[deleted-808975]

Okay so, for the color, the data(numerical) would be the color. Maybe you could make a chart with the different saturation’s with a certain number.With white being 0 and black being 10(You would add like light brown, medium brown, and dark brown) and do several trials. The amount of time and the color(that the number would indicate) could be combined to make an average.
Ex(not actual data): maple syrup being heated for 10 minutes would be on a average of 3(light brown example) after 3 trials.

Again the chart would be made by you and the numbers and color saturation’s you choose could be edited.

[Kstartz1]

Thank you for your assistance! I appreciate you taking the time to research and respond to my questions!