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Can Seventh Graders Perceive the
Difference Between Natural |
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 Researched by Taylor S. |
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The first purpose of this experiment was to determine whether seventh graders could accurately identify which beverage was made with granulated sugar instead of artificial sweeteners.
The second purpose of this experiment was to determine which sweetener taste was preferred by seventh graders.
I became interested in this idea when one of my siblings was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes, Type #1. Most people think there is a huge difference in taste between sugar and sugar substitutes, but my sibling, who uses sugar substitutes, doesn’t think so. I wanted to see if people really could tell the difference.
The information gained from this experiment could benefit dieticians, parents, and the food industry. People want the best tasting food but also need to limit their sugar intake, especially if they are diabetic or have weight issues.
My first hypothesis was that 25% or less of seventh graders would be able to accurately identify which Kool-Aide was sweetened with real sugar and which was with the sugar substitutes.
I based my first hypothesis on what my sibling told me and my personal observations about how close they are in taste. I think the tastes are so similar that people couldn’t truly tell the difference.
My second hypothesis was that the taste of real sugar would be preferred to sugar substitutes by more than 50% of the seventh graders.
I based my second hypothesis on the fact that we use both real sugar and sugar substitutes in my family and although they are very close in taste, I perceive real sugar is probably sweeter.
The constants in this study were:
• Flavor of Kool-Aide tasted (Fruit Punch)
• Amount tasted (50ml.)
• Serving temperature
• Time since beverage was made
• Paper cups used to hold liquids
• Amount of time given for taste test and response.
• Water (50ml)
• Overall procedure
The manipulated variable was the type and brand of sweetener:
• Sugar
• Splenda
• Sweet 'n' Low
• Equal
The first responding variable was number of accurate taste identifications.
The second responding variable was the number of preference votes for each type of sweetener.
To measure the responding variables, I tabulated the written responses given by each subject and their preference votes.
QUANTITY ITEM DESCRIPTION
8 Packages of “Tropical Punch”- Unsweetened Kool-Aide mix
200 Paper Cups
200 Color Coding Labels (in four colors)
40 Response Sheets (one for each individual)
1 Experimenter Script
1 Serving Chart
1 Random Serving Table
8 #2 Pencils
1 Camera
1. Collect permissions slips before experiment is conducted (subjects may not participate without the slips.)
2. Buy 4 packets of tropical punch flavored Kool-Aide and all of the following sweeteners at the local grocery store (Real Sugar, Splenda, Sweet ‘n’ Low, and Equal) also buy 200 small drinking cups to pour water and Kool-Aides into. Buy colored coding labels. (Enough to equally dot every paper cup.)
3. Move 8 desks in testing classroom so that none of the subjects can communicate easily or see each other’s paper.
4. Wash desktops.
5. Pourer and server must wash hands before serving liquids or touching cups.
6. Label cups:
a. Divide cups into 5 groups of 24.
b. Label all cups in one group using adhesive dots of one color: orange, blue, green, or purple. Use a different color for each of the four different groups. Do not label the water cups, which are the fifth group.
7. Pourer (experimenter) must not allow the server to know which sweetened beverage is in which colored cup, until all testing is finished!
8. Pourer uses the “Random Serving Table” (see appendix) and fills cups for a specific test group.
a. The pourer puts 50 ml. of the Kool-Aide currently to be served into 6 of the small sample cups labeled with the correct dot color.
b. Repeat with the other beverages using the other sweeteners in the cups labeled with the other three dot colors, listed in the random serving table.
c. Also pour 8 cups with water to rinse their mouths between tastes. (One per subject)
9. Bring a group of 6 students into testing room and seat them
10. Read subjects the instructions and answer any questions. Tell them they may quit the experiment at any time.
11. Give each subject a response sheet and a pencil.
12. Server (only) gives subjects the water and the sweetened beverages one at a time in all four dot-labeled cups.
13. Have subjects taste the first sample and mark the type of sweetener that they think the beverage is made with on the response sheet.
14. Repeat this with the other three beverages. Tell them to rinse mouth between tastes with small amount of water.
15. After all beverages are tasted, have students mark their favorite at the bottom of the form.
16. Thank the subjects and send them back to class
17. Collect response sheets and discard used cups.
18. Wash desktops. Wash hands.
19. Repeat steps 8-18 for the rest of the groups to test
20. Experimenter uses “Random Serving Table” to tally responses.
21. I also collected all of the preference votes from the subjects.
22. Total the score for each type of sweetener used to make the Kool-Aide.
The first original purpose of this experiment was to determine whether seventh graders could accurately identify which beverage was made with granulated sugar instead of artificial sweeteners.
The second original purpose of this experiment was to determine which sweetener taste was preferred by seventh graders.
The results of the experiment were that seventh graders, on average, could not accurately tell the difference between Kool-Aide made with granulated and artificial sweeteners. The results also showed that the granulated sugar (real sugar) was by far preferred by seventh graders other than any of the artificial sweeteners.
See the table and graph below.
My first original hypothesis was that 25% or less of seventh graders would be able to accurately identify which Kool-Aide was sweetened with real sugar and which was with the sugar substitutes.
The results indicate that this hypothesis should be rejected because much greater than 25% of the seventh graders were able to accurately identify sugar when it was the actual sweetener.
My second hypothesis was that the taste of real sugar would be preferred to sugar substitutes by more than 50% of the seventh graders.
The results indicate that this hypothesis should be accepted because 60% of the seventh graders preferred the Kool-Aide made with granulated sugar.
After thinking about the results of this experiment, I wonder if changing the flavor of Kool-Aide would make a difference in the results because some flavors may be stronger than others and may cover up the taste of the sweetener.
If I were to conduct this project again I would run more trials and use more artificial sweeteners.
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Introduction- Diabetes is an illness that affects many people throughout the world. It’s an illness where the human body is no longer able to produce insulin, which breaks down the sugars in food that the body takes in. So Diabetics are enable to take in bunches of sugar. Luckily, there is such thing as an artificial sweetener, which can give them their sugar without the carbohydrates. Glucose- Glucose is the simplest carbohydrate in the world. Glucose is better known as simple sugar. Sugar is a naturally produced substance by plants. Glucose is used to build-up protein, which helps the plant build-up a tissue called “Cellulose.” “Soft forms of cellulose make up the fleshy part of leaves, for example, while a harder, reinforced form of cellulose called “lignin” makes up the veins of leaves, twigs, bark, etc.” P.18-Carbon-Element #8. Carbohydrates are what plants and animals use to help store there energy in there body after eating a meal. Type-One Diabetes- Type One Diabetes is a chronic illness which is also known as “Juvenile Diabetes” or “Insulin-Dependent Diabetes.” When you are diagnosed with Type One Diabetes, you are usually at the time frames of age in your life of young child to young adult. The older you get the chances get slimmer, but it is still possible to happen. When you have diabetes, your immune system has attacked and destroyed your beta cells; therefore your pancreas can no longer create or reproduce insulin. Insulin: “A hormone that is produced in the pancreas and acts to regulate the amount of sugar in the blood.” Without the pancreas being able to secrete insulin and other digestive juices, the body is no longer able to function properly and the person is classified as “Type-One Diabetic.” In your body the Pancreas secretes insulin into the body to help the body burn the food it taking in. Type-Two Diabetes- Type-Two Diabetes is an illness, it is also known as “Adult-onset Diabetes” or “Non-Insulin-Dependent Diabetes”. This form of diabetes is the most common type of diabetes out there. Human’s can develop this type of diabetes, even at a young age; it can be developed in any and every stage of life. In this type of diabetes, it begins with the resistance of insulin. This causes the fat, liver, and muscle cells begin to improperly use the insulin. At the very beginning of this process, the pancreas is having to produce more than its normal dose of insulin, so it is over working itself, but after a while, it slows down and becomes enable to produce enough insulin to break down the sugar that the body takes in and finally it just shut down completely. This is the stage where you are classified as a true Type-Two Diabetic. Gestational Diabetes- There is also one other type of diabetes; it is called “Gestational Diabetes”. This happens to some women during late stages of their pregnancy. This type of Diabetes is caused by shortage of insulin for herself or just hormones. In most cases it goes away after birth to the child, but once they have had it, their chance of developing Type-Two Diabetes later on, is a much higher risk now. Taste- The sense of taste starts at a muscular organ that we know as our tongue. The tongue is a muscle that is connected to the mouth by skin. The surface of the tongue has over ten thousand (10,000) taste buds which each contains around a dozen taste cells. Each tiny taste cell is four-thousandth of an inch long and half of that wide. The visible bumps on you tongue are called “Papillae.” This is what gives the tongue its spongy look. In your mouth, the taste buds are divided into sections with specific names like: Filiform (pointed style), Foliate (Leaf shape styled), Fungiform (mushroom shape style), and Circumvallate (ring shape style). The Foliate, Fungiform, and Circumvallate each hold from one to two hundred taste buds each. But oddly enough the Filiform, Papillae has no taste buds at all. The taste buds on your tongue are able to sense mainly taste around four different types of tastes: sour, bitter, salty, and sweet. The taste buts can mainly sense sweet tastes at the tip of the tongue and on the sides they mainly sense sourness. On the back of the tongue the taste buds can easily detect bitter tastes and saltiness in the front. We use the sense of taste everyday and it is one of the most important senses of the human body. Summary- The human body needs glucose (sugar) to function properly, but it also needs insulin to help break the glucose down so that it can be digested. Diabetics; are people that can no longer produce there own insulin and can’t have much natural sugar so they eat artificial sweeteners (sugar substitutes) to keep blood glucose (blood sugar) under control. |
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I would like to thank the following people for helping make my project possible:
- My parents for always inspiring me to keep on going even when it got tough.
- Mr.Newkirk for helping with anything and everything I needed help with, at any time of the day.
- Mrs.Viernez for helping me at any point that I ever needed help.
- My school library, I would like to thank them because without them supplying me with books, this experiment would not be possible.
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