How do you write a food science lab report?

Experiment Title.

Your Name.

Introduction/Background/Underlying Principles of the Methods Used.

Experimental Data. Results: calculations, tables and graphs.

Discussion of results and conclusions.

Answers to questions. References if applicable (use the Journal of Food Science format)

https://afs.ca.uky.edu/foodscience/food-chemistry-laboratory-guidelines

https://www.neisd.net/cms/lib/TX02215002/Centricity/Domain/3520/sciencefairsamplereport_outline.pdf

Part 1) Students will learn to research an idea, such as the science of cooking to find info on the food they would like to make for others to eat. First find a recipe that the student wants to change. The student can vary the amount of one ingredient, or the student can add an new ingredient. Only make one change at a time. The amount that you add is the independent variable. This will influence the chemical composition of the food, and provide the people eating it with different opinions. Use the science of cooking, scientific method form to help guide your project: pdf file below

Part 2) The student will need to identify the independent variable, dependent variable, control, and constants in the experiment. The following example is what the student will be doing to change the food recipe: If new flour types are used, then the different type of flour being used would be the independent variable. It is best to choose one type of ingredient and focus on varying it only so that a comparison can be made easily with the control. The control is the original recipe. Here is an example: specify the independent variable, dependent variable, control group and any constants.

1. A student wanted to test how the mass of a paper airplane affected the distance it would fly. Paper clips were added before each test flight. As each paper clip was added, the plane was tested to determine how far it would fly.

Independent variable ___(Mass of Airplane - this is being changed by adding paper clips)______

Dependent variable _______(Distance - this is being affected by the change in mass)_____________________

Control _______(Plane without paper clip)______________________

Constant ______(How the plane is thrown or type of paper)______________________

Example for Science of Cooking: Student allergic to gluten flour - nongluten flour types would be the independent variable

Independent variable: (Buckwheat Flour) New flour type amount would be changed compared to the original amount used in the control. The first amount would be 1/4 cup less than normal bleached flour, the second amount would be the same as called for in the recipe, third would be 1/4 cup more, Last would be 1/2 cup more. The student does not need to follow these specific amount recommendations since this is an example with no research done on the new flour type and their effect on the other ingredients.

Dependent variable: odor, fragrance, sense of taste, quality: does it stay together compared to the control (more flour is going to affect the cohesion)

Control: This would be the original recipe with bleached flour.

Constant: The other ingredients in the food recipe and how it is prepared.

Part 3) Establish your food recipe. Look for sources of information. Read your sources and take notes. Organize your ideas.

Part 4) Organize Your Ideas Using the information collected on the note cards, develop an outline to organize your ideas. An outline shows your main ideas and the order in which you are going to write about them. It's the bare bones of what will later become a fleshed-out written report. Write down all the main ideas or ingredients in the recipe. Ingredients can vary in quality due to expiration date and type of manufacturing process. List the subordinate ideas below the main ideas. This concerns the cooking process. There are many different cooking techniques to keep water in the food while cooking. Water plays a large role in the final taste of the food. Too much water makes the food seem as though it was not cooked. Salt or acids are often used when temperature or heating is decreased when working with meat. Avoid any repetition of ideas. It is important for the student to understand that studying the recipe as Pepsi did with coke is the key to success. Often changing one item in a small way can make an impact that will cause customers to like your food item more than the competition. Fresh foods from a chemical perspective have not undergone decomposition or have not been changed that impact their taste. Decomposition is a chemical reaction where the food changes into new products. This can often make the food taste spoiled with a sour or bitter taste. This led to the current farm to table trend.

Part 5) Organizing your ideas concerns developing the hypothesis or educated guess for the best method to fix the problem. This is the goal of lesson 2. The hypothesis in the example associated with students allergic to gluten flour concerns examines the research into which flour would be the best substitute for the recipe that is being modified. Each flour has a description of where it would be best used and recipes. Moreover, the recipe that you have most likely will have one ingredient that is different and this makes your experiment unique.

Part 6) Student has the recipe that they want to modify and the ingredients necessary. Make sure that the student completes the Scientific Method science of cooking pdf because it has a location for the step by step procedure followed by the student in the formation of the new recipe. Paying attention to the details associated with changing one item in the recipe is important to developing sensitive taste buds.

Part 7) This is where the student will use the Scientific Method Experiment Form to document their experiment to create a new food recipe. Also, the problem could be the food is too spicy or too bland. It could be lacking a specific ingredient that your family or culture prefers. These instructions need to be written out first, check for proper grammar before reading them during the actual experiment that will be recorded with a video camera. Part 1, fill out the form.

Part 8) Take pictures of the food before it is cooked and prepared. Students should take before, during, and after pictures. If you wait to take a picture after the recipe is prepared, then the student failed to show or document progress.

Part 9) Video the process of following the new recipe. If the student desires to try more than one independent variable method to fix the problem of the food being too bland or containing an allergic substance to a family member, then more data will be available for the viewer to determine from your conclusions the best method or recipe to follow. However, it is best to change only one item from the original recipe. This is the best way to compare the independent variable's influence on the dependent variable in comparison to the control and know that the result is better or worse.

Part 10) Make a graph showing the independent variable vs dependent variable. If graph paper is used, students can take a picture of this and place it in the essay. The Independent variable goes on the x-axis, the Dependent variable goes on the y-axis. Label the axes: title each axis with the appropriate info. (See attachment: variables and graphs for picture page 9)

Part 11) Assemble the project Part 3) Photos must be inserted through the file, do not cut and paste. See picture Part 4) Video must be inserted through the file, it will take you to YouTube, enter your YouTube video name in the search browser, and when it appears click the video, then it will be embedded properly in the essay.

Part12) Pdf and links can be found on the student google classroom page.