Science Fair Research Plan Questions/Concerns Take 2

Science Buddies A. Purpose A. Purpose: written as a yes/no question Question: Does drinking milk help decrease spiciness better than water or Pepsi?

Science Buddies Before we can write a hypothesis, we might need to do some background research. Begin by identifying the keywords and main concepts in your question. In this case keywords would be: Milk Pepsi Spiciness Water Let's think about spiciness first. You're going to do a science experiment, so knowing that a spicy food tastes "hot" is probably not sufficient.

Science Buddies The secret is to use the "question words" (why, how, who, what, when, where) with your keywords. Use only those questions that are relevant to your experiment: Why do spicy foods taste hot? How does the tongue detect spiciness? How does one measure spiciness? What causes spiciness to increase (or decrease)? What are the properties and characteristics of spicy substances?

Science Buddies You might generate other "question words" with the other keywords. Use only those questions that are relevant to your experiment: Where in the body does spiciness occur? What is the composition of milk, Pepsi, and water? What are the properties and characteristics of milk, Pepsi, and water?

Science Buddies After you research these questions (be sure to document your research sites), you may be able to formulate a hypothesis. If I ___________________, then _________________ because ______________.

Research Why do spicy foods taste hot? “It turns out that capsaicin – the active ingredient in spicy food – binds to a special class of vanilloid receptor inside our mouth called VR1 receptors… VR1 receptors weren’t designed to detect capsaicin. They bind spicy food by accident. The real purpose of VR1 receptors is thermoreception, or the detection of heat. This means that they are supposed to prevent us from consuming food that will burn our sensitive flesh.”VR1 How does the tongue detect spiciness?

Research How does one measure spiciness? “He (Dr. Paul Rozin at the University of Pennsylvania ) tested chili eaters by gradually increasing the pain, or, as the pros call it, the pungency, of the food, right up to the point at which the subjects said they just could not go further. When asked after the test what level of heat they liked the best, they chose the highest level they could stand, ‘just below the level of unbearable pain.’ ”Dr. Paul Rozin at the University of Pennsylvania

Research Milk Composition? “In general, the gross composition of cow's milk in the U.S. is 87.7% water, 4.9% lactose (carbohydrate), 3.4% fat, 3.3% protein, and 0.7% minerals (referred to as ash). Milk composition varies depending on the species (cow, goat, sheep), breed (Holstein, Jersey), the animal's feed, and the stage of lactation. Although there are minor variations in milk composition, the milk from different cows is stored together in bulk tanks and provides a relatively consistent composition of milk year round in the U.S.”

Research Pepsi Composition? Carbonated Water High Fructose Corn Syrup Caramel Color Sugar Phosphoric Acid Caffeine Otric Acid Natural Flavor Potassium Phosphorus

Research Water Composition? This is just the chemical equation for water, as water occurs naturally on our planet: 2H 2(g) + O 2(g) ---->2H 2 O (g)

Hypothesis B. Hypothesis Remember that a hypothesis is just what you think the answer will be based on research. After you perform the experiment you may find that your hypothesis was incorrect. That is okay! If I drink milk after eating spicy food, then the spiciness in my mouth will decrease because the proteins in the milk will help to coat my tongue.

Part C. Experimental Design By now you have already done a lot of work, but you still have to design a viable experiment to test your hypothesis. You will probably need to do more research in order to develop the procedure of your experiment. It’s important to keep everything the same, constant, except for the variable that you are testing, the independent variable. You should also have a standard to compare to, a control. The factor or outcome you are measuring is called the dependent variable.

Part C. Experimental Design Don’t forget to ensure that your experiment is safe. We need special permission to do experiments on certain things. Generally we can not experiment on: 1.Other humans 2.Vertebrate animals 3.Potentially Hazardous Biological Agents 4.Hazardous Chemicals, Activities & Devices

Part C. Experimental Design It wouldn’t make sense to do all this work without recording your results. 1.Keep a journal, and write down everything no matter how small it may seem. 2.Make some sort of chart to record your measurements or data. 3.Take pictures throughout your experiment, not just at the beginning and end.

Part D. Bibliography ads/DocumentsCategories/Documents/Hanshew20bibliography20guide.pdf ads/DocumentsCategories/Documents/Hanshew20bibliography20guide.pdf You have to give credit to all the people whose research you used. You should have a least 5 resources. (Mine for this presentation are on the next slide.)

Bibliography Science Buddies. 24 November projects/project_background_research_plan.shtml#checklist Engle, Michael. (2003, May 20). The Seven Steps of the Research Process. Cornell University Library. Retrieved September 22, 2003, from Milk Facts. 24 November tion%20Page.htm Chemistry, Topic: Water: Composition & Properties. Clemas Study Centre. 24 November Lehrer, Jonah. Frontal Cortex. 22 September Wired Science Blogs. 24 November spicy-food-taste-hot/ Farter, Mikala. The Chemistry of Pepsi. 24 November