Food Science: Tortilla Chips

Last night we explored the wonderful science of making your own tortilla chips! The teens did not know they could make their own chips, nor did they guess they could find scientific information in the process. Read on to discover what variables we tried and some of the results!

Food Science: Apples

This month we looked into the science behind why apples turn brown and experimented with solutions to keep them from turning brown.
The teens divided into groups and each group tested different solutions to see what would prevent the apple from turning brown the best. Here is what one group looked at.

·         Water

·         Water and salt

·         Lemon juice

·         Vinegar

·         Put the apple core in a bowl too to serve as an control example           

        They also did this:

          Honey

·         Orange Juice

·         Carbonated water

·         Soda

·         Put the apple core in a bowl too to serve as an control example                                         

      The results of this experiment were super intriguing and the teens came up with a variation of their own which was hot water and salt.  This turned the apple brown faster and it made the apple taste a little like a pie apple. The other results showed that cold water and salt seemed to keep the apple from turning brown the best. They teens were really about this science and discovering that oxidization was what made apples turn brown. They also loved tasting the various apples and the solutions. Teens eat anything! Email me if you have any questions! dstates@yorklibraries.org Dawn states: apples are yummy! 

Food Science! Tea!

Last night we got to explore the science of tea, which was pretty interesting. The teens divided into groups and then tested oolong (which means bird dragon), green tea, and Earl Grey. To find out what the teens discovered and what experiments they did with  tea, read on!

Food Science: Smoothies

Think that smoothies are just a yummy, fruity treat? Think again! Smoothies can actually be really scientific! We studied this in the most recent Food Science program and find out about some of the ingredients in smoothies and how these ingredients have scientific properties that impact our bodies.
The first thing that the teens did was create a control sample that they would use for later comparison and analysis on the ingredients of the smoothies. They took a small cup of water and a glucose test strip and tested the water for any trace of sugars. (Thankfully and of course, there were none) They then used a glucose strip and tested the sugars of a glucose tab that was dissolved in a cup of water. These brought back results of high sugars! These strips were saved for later looking at with the results from the smoothies.

Control Strips 

Next, the teens divided in two groups and each made a different smoothie recipe. The one group made a sugar packed smoothie and the other group made a not so sugary smoothie. They took glucose strips and tested the contents of their smoothies and found out how high or low each was in glucose and then compared this to their control samples earlier. The results surprised them! We were then able to talk about what glucose is and how it interacts in the body. We were also able to discuss what lactose was because the one smoothie recipe called for milk. There was a great deal of science involved, and at the end the teens created their own smoothie recipe. It was pretty cool!
Dawn states: I love smoothies!
Email me for information, the handout used, or any other smoothie information! dstates@yorklibraries.org

smoothie making and science! 

I scream, you scream, YAY! We made ice cream!

We all know that the summer can get pretty hot. What better way to beat the heat than with your very own ice cream!? That is exactly what we did here at the library. Making ice cream is a fun, easy (in a way, it is messy!), activity that is also a wonderful learning experience.

The teens and I made ice cream after our TAB (Teen Advisory Board) meeting. It does not take many ingredients because science comes into play and uses ice and salt. Adding salt to ice or water means the ice and water becomes a solvent. Salt in ice lowers the temperature of the ice, keeping it cooler and then enabling the other ingredients that make ice cream to become super cold, or ice cream!

Check out some pictures of the process below. Feel free to email me with questions, comments, or for directions! dstates@yorklibraries.org (Since this was not a Food Science activity, the science part was not stressed too much. I do not have any science notes, but this would be easy to pull together.)

Food Science: Honey, a sweet success

I talked about how we were doing honey science here at the library, but I did not mention how it went because we had not done the program yet. It went really well! We had a smaller group of teens, but most of them were really invested in learning about honey and what makes it so special. I got to share with the teens why honey never goes bad, different tasting honey, what density and viscosity is, and of course honey cookies.
These things were all exciting for the teens, as some of them knew that honey never went bad but did not know why that was and some of them had honey before but never different flavors. It was great to expose them to these aspects of honey and I think the information will "stick" with them. (Especially the flavors of honey, wildflower was unanimously voted as a bad flavor. Who would have guessed!)
Honey cookies was a great way to end this science, and they noted some differences in flavor and wanted the recipe to take home and continue making these cookies! If anyone wants this recipe, the links, or the handouts I used, please feel free to email me at dstates@yorklibraries.org
Also, check out these great photos from the science provided by one of our teens!
Dawn states: I am stuck on putting honey in my tea!

One of my teens took some awesome photos, but there is one in there of me checking my notes and some other silly madness! Cracked me up!