PURPOSE
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.
HYPOTHESIS
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.
EXPERIMENT DESIGN
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.
MATERIALS
QUANTITY
|
ITEM DESCRIPTION
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1
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Camera
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40
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Response Sheets (one for each individual)
|
1
|
Random Serving Table
|
200
|
Color Coding Labels (in four colors)
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200
|
Paper Cups
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8
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Packages of “Tropical Punch”- Unsweetened Kool-Aide mix
|
1
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Experimenter Script
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1
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Serving Chart
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8
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Pencils
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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.
CONCLUSION
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.
Researched - Taylor S
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