Super Science Family Activity FAMILY ACTIVITY: BREAD EXPERIMENT In this activity, youth will learn about whole grains through an experiment. Whole grains are grains that contain an endosperm, bran, and germ. Youth will place whole grain and refined grain (white) bread in separate cups of vinegar to observe what happens, which represents what happens in the stomach when we eat whole and refined grains. Whole grains dissolve or digest more slowly than refined ones, and are therefore a better source of long-term energy in addition to the variety of vitamins, healthy fat, fiber that they provide. MATERIALS AND INSTRUCTIONS Materials ● Whole vs. Refined Grain diagram ● Vinegar - 8 oz per experiment ● Clear cups - 2 per experiment ● White bread - ¼ slice per experiment ● Whole grain bread (make sure it says WHOLE wheat as the first ingredient) - ¼ slice per experiment ● Something to mix the bread around with - fork, knife, spoon, stir stick, etc. ● Paper/notepad/notebook and writing utensil for documenting observations - or print out of questions page included below Instructions Introduce youth to whole grains 1. Ask youth if they have ever heard of whole grains before. If they have, ask them to share what they know about whole grains A whole grain is a grain that hasn’t had any part of it removed 2. Show youth the whole grain versus refined grain picture 3. Ask youth to circle the differences that they see, then share what they circled 4. Share information about the difference between whole grains and refined grains, referencing the diagram as needed ● All grains have 3 parts - the germ on the inside, the endosperm in the middle, and the bran on the outside ● When we eat whole grains we eat all 3, which provides us with B vitamins, fiber, E vitamins, and healthy fats ● When we eat refined grains we only eat the endosperm, which only provides us with a small amount of protein and vitamins 5. Ask youth how they think that you can tell if something is a whole grain We can tell if something is a whole grain because when we read the ingredient list the world “whole” will be in front of the name of a whole grain and it will be the first ingredient. The only exception to this rule is brown rice. 1 6. Reflect ● Which is healthier to eat - whole or refined grains? Why? ● What are some whole grain foods that you like to eat? Transition to bread experiment 1. Explain the experiment to youth In our bread experiment, we will put a piece of white bread and a piece of whole wheat bread in two clear plastic cups. We will watch what happens. In this experiment, the cup represents our stomachs and the vinegar represents the stomach acid that breaks down food in our stomachs. 2. Ask youth what they think will happen during the experiment. This is their hypothesis. 3. Give youth 2 clear 8 oz cups 4. Fill each cup ½ full with white vinegar 5. Place ¼ of a slice of white bread in one cup and ¼ slice of wheat bread in the other cup 6. Mix the bread around with a knife, skewer, or other mixing tool 7. Make observations on a piece of paper Observations can be made using words or pictures. To more deeply engage youth in making observations, divide a piece of paper into several squares, then set a timer and ask youth to make and record observations every 2-3 minutes. 8. After approximately 10 minutes, the experiment should be finished. Ask youth to share their observations and conclusions with you. Ask youth to reflect on whether or not their hypothesis was correct. 9. Reflect ● Our white bread dissolved more quickly than the whole grain bread. What does this mean when we eat white and whole grain bread? White bread is a refined grain, which means that it only has the endosperm. The endosperm provides us with sugar which dissolves quickly and gives us a short amount of energy. The whole grain bread has bran and germ in addition to endosperm. The bran and germ provide us with fiber and healthy fats, which break down more slowly in our bodies and give us energy for longer. ● If you were trying to pick the healthier option, would you pick white or whole grain bread? Why? QUESTIONS TO EXPLORE 1. What did you like about the experiment? What didn’t you like? a. What parts were easy to complete? More difficult? 2. Will you try to eat more whole instead of refined grains in the future? 3. Which type of grains do you prefer to eat? Why? IDEAS TO INCLUDE YOUNGER SIBLINGS! (ADAPTATIONS FOR 0-5 YEAR OLDS) ● Very young children may struggle to understand the difference between whole grain and refined grain foods. Younger children participating in this experience will benefit from explaining about 2 what grains are and where they come from. If you have talked about them before, remind them of some of the details of any previous conversations. ● Make connections to their real-world experiences. Young children may have seen whole grains among the dry goods in your kitchen, such as corn kernels for popping, oats used for oatmeal or rice (though white rice is not considered a whole grain). They may listen as you discuss more details with older children but you should not expect preschoolers to understand terms like endosperm. They will know what parts of a picture are inside the grain and which are outside – and may relate to other food items they know (such as seeds or nuts that are still in their shells). ● Invite them to observe the differences in the bread samples for the experiment – noting that you will likely see individual grains in a sample of whole grain bread. Commercially produced whole grain bread will sometimes have grains of oat sprinkled on top – you can draw children’s attention to this too. ● Be mindful that a hypothesis does not have to be “right” and welcome younger children’s predictions about what will happen when you put the different samples into vinegar or water. Children who are too young to write on their own will love having you take dictation as they describe what they observe in the experiments. REFERENCES, MODIFICATIONS, & EXTENSIONS References ● The bread experiment was adapted from Cooking Matters for Kids Putting Whole Grains to the Test activity, which can be found on p. I-40 in the Cooking Matters for Kids Instructor Workbook. ● Whole grain diagrams: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/whole-grains/ Modifications ● It may be more developmentally appropriate to show the unlabeled whole versus refined grain diagram to youth who are just beginning to read or are not as confident with reading so that they can visualize differences instead of struggling to read challenging words. ● This activity is most age appropriate for youth ages 5-8 years old. To make the activity more engaging for older youth, implement any of the suggestions below ○ More deeply engage in design thinking and the scientific method by having youth fill out the Bread Experiment Design worksheet at the end of this document Extensions ● This activity pairs nicely with the Whole Grain Detective family activity 3 4 BREAD EXPERIMENT DESIGN 1. Please write what MATERIALS you are using for the experiment: 2. What QUESTION are you trying to answer by doing this experiment?: 3. What do you think the answer to your question is? This is your HYPOTHESIS: 4. Test you HYPOTHESIS and make OBSERVATIONS below: 5. Analyze your DATA (OBSERVATIONS) from above to decide what actually happened in the experiment: 6. REPORT your results. Was your hypothesis correct? What actually happened? How can you apply what you learn outside of the experiment?: 5 © Copyright 2020 YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the Young Men’s Christian Association of Chicago a.k.a. YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago (“YMCA”), except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. 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