TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor?
In the first part of the activity, each student chews a piece of gum until it loses its flavor, and then leaves the gum to dry for several days before weighing it to determine the amount of mass lost. This mass corresponds to the amount...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Cinnamon Gum and Mouth Microbes
A scientific study has shown that chewing Big Red Gum reduces mouth microbes. Cinnamon oil in gum is a natural defense against mouth bacteria that cause tooth decay and bad breath. Conduct an experiment to compare products with cinnamon...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: How Much Sugar Is in Bubble Gum?
Most of the flavoring in gum is due to the sugar or other sweetener it contains. As gum is chewed, the sugar dissolves and is swallowed. After a piece of gum loses its flavor, it can be left to dry at room temperature and then the...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Students as Scientists
This curricular unit contains two lessons that let students actually do the work of scientists as they design their own experiments to answer questions they generate. In the first lesson and its associated activity, students conduct a...