Games for Food & Science

Use food in science experiments to see what happens.

Educators can use common foods to teach various aspects of science. This helps to engage students, as they see the foods or products they can immediately relate to. These experiments end up getting repeated at home, and other students may end up studying the experiment in greater detail and turn it into a project. These experiments show students how science exists in their everyday worlds.

Floating Eggs

This experiment shows how objects have more buoyancy in salt water than in fresh. To do this experiment, you will need eggs, water, salt, a spoon and a clear glass beaker with a wide mouth. First, fill the beaker about half full of plain water. Then place an egg carefully in the water. Observe what happens to the egg. Remove the egg from the water and stir in half as much salt as there is water in the beaker. Make sure all the salt dissolves. Put the egg in the beaker again, and observe how the egg acts differently in salt water.

Food Tasting

Teach about the science of taste buds with this fun experiment. Have a variety of food bites, such as apples, chocolate, raw potatoes and bananas. Without letting the kids see what they may be trying, place a blindfold on them and feed them the bites. See if they can guess correctly. Alternatively, you could blindfold the entire class, then let them try the bits themselves. Pass out second or subsequent bites while the previous one is being tasted. Be careful about food allergies with this experiment.

Exploding Soda

Show the physical reaction that happens with this experiment. You will need Mentos candy and any 2-liter bottle of soda, as well as a wide open area for the liquid that escapes. When the candy is dropped into the bottle, the reaction between the candy and the soda causes a geyser of soda to appear. Since diet soda has no sugar, the liquid that escapes is not as sticky. Regular soda will leave a sticky mess behind. While the largest eruption occurs when all the candies are added at once, you can also take the experiment in smaller steps by starting with a smaller number of candies, or a smaller amount of soda. Either way, this experiment is sure to make a splash.

Vinegar Volcano

A classic science experiment, this volcano highlights the chemical reaction between baking soda and vinegar. If you don't have time to make a papier-mache volcano, or don't want to add red food coloring for the lava, you don't have to. Those are for visual impact. The science still takes place with baking soda, vinegar and a large beaker. Put baking soda into a clear glass beaker, 1/4 cup should do fine. Pour in vinegar, and watch what happens. Keep adding vinegar until the baking soda is gone. You can also see what happens when baking soda is added to the resulting mix.

References

• Science Kids: Food Science
• Steve Spangler Science: Mentos Diet Coke Geyser
• Iowa State University: Food Science and Human Nutrition