Bubble Gum Lab

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Bubble Gum Lab

• A Sweet Lesson on Inquiry
• Akimel A-al Middle School
• 6th Grade Science

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Do you know why bubble gum is pink?

• The color of the first successful bubble gum was
  pink because it was the only color the inventor
  had left. The color stuck" and today bubble gum
  is still mostly pink.

Bubble gum is a type of chewing gum that is
especially designed for blowing bubbles. It is
available in many different colors and flavors.
The most common flavor is the distinctive one
also known as "bubblegum", which is a combination
of wintergreen, vanilla, and cassia, which is a
type of cinnamon.
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Bubble Gum Facts

• During WW1, US military personnel spread the
  popularity of chewing gum by trading it and
  giving it as gifts to people in Europe, Africa,
  Asia and around the world.
• The first patent for chewing gum was issued in
  1869 to William F. Semple, a dentist from Mount
  Vernon, Ohio.
• The largest bubble ever blown was 23 inches in
  diameter. The record was set on July 19, 1994 by
  Susan Montgomery Willams of Fresno California.
• Ancient Greeks chewed a gum like substance called
  mastic. Women especially liked gum because it
  cleaned their teeth and it exercised their jaw
  muscles.
• The longest gum wrapper chain on record was 7,400
  feet in length and was made by Cathy Ushler of
  Redmond, WA between 1969-1992.

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How Bubble Gum is Made.

• The gum's ingredients are melted and filtered.
• Powered sugar, glucose syrup, flavoring and the
  other ingredients are slowly added to the gum
  base until the warm mix thickness like dough.
• Machines called extruders are used to blend,
  smooth, and form the gum.
• It's time for gum to be shaped. Gum can be
  flattened and cut into sticks, or squeezed into a
  rope shape and cut into chunks, or molded into
  shapes, and candy coated.
• After the gum is cut or molded into the
  appropriate shape, it's lightly sprinkled with
  powdered sweetener to keep it from sticking to
  machinery.
• In carefully temperature controlled room, the gum
  is cooled for up to 48 hours. This allows the gum
  to properly set.
• If the gum is candy coated, like most gum balls
  or pellet gum, it's sprayed again. This process
  is repeated several times until the candy shell
  reaches the proper thickness.

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The Scientific Method

• Lab Title
• Problem (question)
• Hypothesis (what you think will happen, based on
  experience and research If then)
• Independent Variable (one thing you change)
• Dependent Variable (what you measure)
• Materials (shopping list)
• Procedure (number each step)
• Data (data table or chart and written
  observations and pictures)
• Results graph your data
• Conclusion
• Explain how your hypothesis was supported/not
  supported by the data from your experiment
• Identify any possible errors or factors that
  could have affected your experiment
• Discuss what you might do differently next time,
  what other related experiments you would want to
  do

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Research Questions vs. Testable Questions.

• Research questions can be answered by looking
  them up.
• How many calories are in a stick of gum?
• How much fat is in a stick of gum?
• What is the most expensive gum?
• Testable questions can be answered by performing
  an experiment
• Which flavor of gum lasts the longest?
• Which brand of gum makes the biggest bubbles?

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Lab Write Up

• TITLE By Golly By Gum
• PROBLEM What happens to the mass of gum after
  chewing for 10 minutes?
• Mass The amount of matter an object has.
• the weight of an object includes the force of
  gravity on that object (If we traveled to the
  moon, we would have the same mass but we would
  less on the moon than here on Earth because there
  is less gravity).
• For our lab, we will measure mass by the weight
  of the object in grams (g)

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Hypothesis

• HYPOTHESIS what you think will happen why
• Write in the If thenbecauseformat
• If I chew gum for 10 minutes, then the mass will
• Stay the same because
• Increase because
• Decrease because

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Variables

• Independent Variable the one thing you change
• The type of bubble gum
• Dependent Variable The one thing you measure
• Mass of gum in grams (g)

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Materials

• Triple Beam Balance
• 6 different flavors of bubble gum
• Timer
• Wax paper

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Procedure

• Weigh the gum
• Place the un-chewed gum on the triple beam
  balance
• Find and record the weight in grams (g)
• Chew the gum for 10 minutes
• No talking
• Weigh the gum again
• Place the chewed gum back on the triple beam
  balance
• Find and record the weight in grams (g)

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Triple-Beam Balance

• We often use a triple-beam balance to measure
  mass.
• With the pan empty, move the three sliders on the
  three beams to their leftmost positions, so that
  the balance reads zero.
• If the indicator on the far right is not aligned
  with the fixed mark, then calibrate the balance
  by turning the set screw on the left under the
  pan.
• Once the balance has been calibrated, place the
  object to be measured on the pan.
• Move the 100 gram slider along the beam to the
  right until the indicator drops below the fixed
  mark. The notched position immediately to the
  left of this point indicates the number of
  hundreds of grams.
• Now move the 10 gram slider along the beam to the
  right until the indicator drops below the fixed
  mark. The notched position immediately to the
  left of this point indicates the number of tens
  of grams.
• The beam in front is not notched the slider can
  move anywhere along the beam. The boldface
  numbers on this beam are grams and the tick marks
  between the boldface numbers indicate tenths of
  grams.
• To find the mass of the object on the pan, simple
  add the numbers from the three beams.
• As with a ruler, it is possible to read the front
  scale to the nearest half tick mark.

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What is the mass showing?
Click here for an online interactive triple-beam
balance!
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Data
Mass of gum before chewing ______g Mass of gum
after chewing _______g
Bazooka Bubble Gum Video
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Data Chart for Class
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Graph the Data
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Conclusion

• Explain how your hypothesis was supported/not
  supported by the data from your experiment
• My hypothesis was not supported. I predicted the
  mass of the gum would increase (or stay the same)
  but the mass of the gum decreased. The mass of
  the gum went from ___g to ___g. or
• My hypothesis was supported. I predicted the mass
  of the gum would decrease and it did decrease.
  The mass of the gum went from ___g to ___g
• Identify any possible errors or factors that
  could have affected your experiment
• Discuss what you might do differently next time
  and what other related experiments you would want
  to do.