Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello!
I'm in the sixth grade and doing a project about best to pack your lunch box. I was planning to first see how most people bring their lunches to school, do they use ice packs, etc Then I was going to test materials like aluminum foil, plastic, paper, bubble wrap, and maybe other materials. I just wasnt sure how to test the materials. I know that it is recommended for cold items to be at 40 degrees to be safe to eat. What do you suggest?

This is a great idea for a science experiment and I think you are well on the way to designing it!

It sounds like you are interested in testing which packaging material is best to keep lunches cold (below a safe food handling temperature). You'll want to control the type and size of food, the starting temperature of the food, the ambient temperature, and the length of time the packed food is out of the refrigerator. You could then measure the temperature of the food at several times during the day and track which packaging material keeps the food cold the longest.

Have fun!

Audrey

What would be the most accurate way to measure the temperature of the food? Do you recommend a certain type of thermometer?

Thanks for all your help

Hi cookies123,

audreyln gave you some really good advice! As far as a specific kind of thermometer goes, you could use a simple oral thermometer and insert the sensing area into the food (e.g., between the pieces of a sandwich). You'll want to make sure that there is good contact between the thermometer and food. There are more complicated (and expensive!) ways of measuring temperature, but I think this simpler approach will work for your project. Just make sure that you measure quickly (but for long enough that the thermometer reading stabilizes!) so that you minimize the amount of time you have the lunchboxes open.