Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Project Ideas: Hidden Grasses and Beans in Processed Foods
In this cooking and food science fair project, determine which common crops are found most often in processed foods. The Science Buddies project ideas are set up consistently beginning with an abstract, objective, and introduction,...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Project Ideas: What Makes Foams Stand Up Straight
In this food science fair project, students will determine which foods make good edible foams, with high volume and longevity. The Science Buddies project ideas are set up consistently beginning with an abstract, objective, and...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Project Ideas: How Much Water Is Absorbed by Dried Beans?
In this cooking and food science fair project, measure how the water content of dried beans changes with time. The Science Buddies project ideas are set up consistently beginning with an abstract, objective, and introduction, followed by...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Project Ideas: How Much Sugar Is Really in That Soda?
In this science fair project, use a precision hydrometer to measure the amount of sugar in soda. The Science Buddies project ideas are set up consistently beginning with an abstract, objective, and introduction, followed by a section on...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: How Can Tofu Pack Such a Flavorful Punch?
Spicy fried tofu. It's a delicious and savory main dish at many Asian restaurants. Stab a golden-brown piece, bite into it, and the juice inside rushes out, filling your mouth with rich flavors. Continue eating and you find the texture...
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Science Buddies: Gel Well: Which Additives Make the Strongest Gelatin?
Gelatin. It's hard to think of another food that is used as frequently on the dinner table as off. You can find it in all sorts of sweet foods, from ice cream, yogurt, and gummy bears, to marshmallows and yellow colorings for sodas. Off...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: You Want Fries With That? The Science of Crispy Potatoes
The first bite of a fresh-picked apple, the crunch of morning toast, the deep cut into rich, flaky layers of baklava, the pleasing snap of a chip. Besides being delicious, what do these foods have in common? They're crisp. They have a...
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Science Buddies: Great Globs of Gluten! Which Wheat Flour Has the Most?
Close your eyes for a moment and think about your favorite cake, pasta, and crusty bread. OK, you can open your eyes now, and please don't drool on your computer. What was the cake you pictured like? Was it light and fluffy? Did you...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Maple Syrup: For Pancakes, Waffles, and Crystal Candy?
Maple syrup is deliciously gooey and great on breakfast foods like pancakes and waffles. But it has another amazing property. It can form crystals under the right circumstances, and the crystals change in size and shape, depending on...
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Science Buddies: Old Salty: Does Age Affect the Ability to Detect Salt?
Sauerkraut, pickled fish, pickled vegetables, kimchi, corned beef, processed cheeses, smoked lunch meats. Do you like these high-salt foods? What about your grandparents, do they? Do your grandparents seem to like most foods to be a bit...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Do You Have the Willpower to Taste Something Sour?
Do try this mouth-puckering science fair project to find out if people of all ages love sour tastes, or if there a difference between the sour preferences of kids and adults. You might be able to sell creations of your own based on your...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: You Are What You Eat!
Thinking about improving your sports performance? Want to help friends and family make the most of their physical fitness activities? One factor to consider is food. Whether you realize it or not, what you eat does change your body. It...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: From Trash to Gas: Biomass Energy
Have you ever dreamed of a world where you could take the scraps from last night's dinner and toss them into your car's fuel tank and make gas? Well, we're not quite in "Back to the Future" yet, but in this energy science fair project,...
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Science Buddies: Rooftop Gardens: Are They a Cool Idea?
Around the world, rooftops are being transformed into living green expanses. Besides beauty, rooftop gardens have a number of advantages, including growing food and taking carbon dioxide out of the air while releasing breathable oxygen....
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Science Buddies: Race Your Marbles to Discover a Liquid's Viscosity
How do you like your mashed potatoes? Thin and whipped smooth? Or thick and mashed into chunks? Your mouth checks out not just the taste of your food, but its viscosity, or how it flows on your tongue, every time you take a bite. In this...
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Science Buddies: Fast Food: Can Peppermint Improve Reaction Times?
Did you know that some teachers give their students a peppermint candy on state testing days? Is it to give the kids sweet-smelling breath? Or are the teachers hoping for something more on the important testing day? In this human biology...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Spin Right 'Round With This Simple Electric Motor
If you put on clothes that were washed in a washing machine, rode in a car, ate food from a fridge, warmed up lunch in a microwave, or played a video game, you used an electric motor. Try this science fair project and you'll learn how to...
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Science Buddies: How Much Energy Is Stored in Different Types of Food?
In this project you'll learn a method for measuring how much chemical energy is available in different types of food. You will build your own calorimeter to capture the energy released by burning a small food item, like a nut or a piece...
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Science Buddies: How Much Baking Powder Do Quick Breads Need?
If you like to bake, this could be a good project for you. There is a purpose for each of the ingredients in your recipes, but not everyone is always aware of what that purpose may be. Though this lab takes multiple days, you will...
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Science Buddies: Can Baking Soda Substitute for Baking Powder in a Recipe?
There's nothing quite like the smell of fresh-baked muffins for breakfast on a Saturday morning. If you're into baking, you might want to try this insightful project that lets you witness the chemistry behind making muffins. You'll get...
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Science Buddies: Determining Iodide Content of Salt
In this week long "kitchen chemistry" project you will use chemicals from the supermarket to test for the presence of iodine and iodide in salt. These are common micronutrients added to some preparations of table salt. A materials list,...
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Science Buddies: Egg Substitutes
Egg allergies are not uncommon, therefore many egg substitutes are sold in order to bake, and cook recipes that call for them. In this science project idea, you'll investigate how to modify recipes so that even egg-allergic friends and...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Get Down and Dirty: How Does Soil Change With Depth?
What covers less than 10% of the Earth's surface, yet is a vital natural resource for terrestrial life? What filters ground water and supports most of our food production, not to mention the production of building materials and paper?...
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Science Buddies: How Diets Affect Earthworms and the Soil They Enrich
In this environment-oriented experiment, you will mix it up with earthworms, soil, and various types of organic kitchen scraps. The basic idea is to set up small earthworm colonies to compost different types of food waste. You test the...