67A-7 |
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C.-S. CHEN and M. H. Penner. Dept. of Food Science & Technology, Oregon State Univ., 100 Wiegand Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331-6602 A series of relatively simple egg-based laboratory exercises was developed for application in middle and high school settings. The exercises are intended to teach selected fundamental biochemical principles through the observance of common food phenomena. The egg is used as the basis for these experiments due to its familiarity, low cost, safety and ease of separation into two fundamentally distinct biological fluids (white and yolk). Experiments primarily focus on the use and abuse of eggs; exploring topics like pigments, thermal coagulation, emulsions, and foam stabilization. Students work with raw and hard-cooked eggs, mayonnaise blends, meringues, omelets and angle cakes. Upon completion of the exercises students should be able to give an elementary description of the molecular events that govern the physical attributes of these foods. The exercises per se require no science training. The interpretation of experiments is possible if students have a familiarity with the concept of the particulate nature of matter (i.e. the existence of atoms and molecules). The exercises can be adapted to meet a range of sophistication levels simply by the depth to which the observed phenomena are interpreted. The presented exercises have been used in a successful middle school summer workshop on food chemistry at Oregon State University.
Session 67A, Education: General
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