Type
Chemistry
Grade
Elementary School/Middle School
Difficulty of Project
Easy
Cost
$10-$17
Safety Issues
None
Material Availability
Easily available from the supermarket.
Approximate Time Required to Complete the Project
About a day
Objective
To determine how much sugar is in each type of drink.
Materials and Equipment / Ingredients
- A pot
- A scale
- A stove
- Fruit Juice
- Fresh Squeezed Fruit Juice
- Organic Fruit Juice
- Soda
Introduction
It’s commonly known that soda has a large quantity of sugar. But how much sugar is there in fruit juice? Does it matter that it’s “fresh squeezed” or that it’s “organic”? What is the purpose of these labels, and what do they tell us about the amount of added sugar?
Research Questions
- Which has the most sugar: Fruit Juice, Fresh Squeezed Fruit Juice, Organic Fruit Juice, or Soda?
- Are the nutritional content labels correct, or are they only counting added sugar?
Terms, Concepts and Questions to Start Background Research
- What are the labeling laws that concern fruit juice?
- How much sugar do normal Americans drink every day?
- What are the differences between the amount of sugar in different kinds of fruit juice?
Experimental Procedure
- Weigh the pot you are using on a scale. Note how much it weighs.
- Take the Fruit Juice, and pour a predetermined amount into the pot.
- Boil until all the water evaporates. All that will be left is the sugar.
- Weight the pot now (once it cools), and subtract the initial weight of the pot. This is how much sugar is in the drink.
- Repeat with Fresh Squeezed Fruit Juice, Organic Fruit Juice, and Soda.
Bibliography
Fortin, Neal. Truthful Statements Cannot Always Cure a False or Misleading One. Food Law Blog (US). Feb 9, 2009. http://foodlawblog.foodlaw.org/2009/02/truthful-statements-cannot-always-cure.html
Barnes, Karen W. The Nutritional Analysis of Fruit Juices. Perkin Elmer Instruments. Web. 1999. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=5&ved=0CBYQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Flas.perkinelmer.com%2Fcontent%2Fapplicationnotes%2Fapp_thenutritionalanalysisoffruitjuices.pdf&ei=LGFrS9CjJonYsQOAwoS0Aw&usg=AFQjCNFJFb9y9-CuhQYZgTRdx1docGhAtg
Thomas, Pat. Behind The Label: Orange Juice. The Ecologist. July 13, 2009. http://yalepress.typepad.com/squeezed/2009/07/behind-the-label-orange-juice.html
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