Science Projects for Eighth Grade: Which Foods Cool Faster-Oven, Stove Top, or Microwave?

Lesson:

This project is perfect when you are teaching about heat and how it works. Students can use this information about basic cooking and life skills.

Teach:

Talk to your students about some foods that can be cooked several different ways. Some foods may be prepared one way and then heated up another. Ask students if they think that there is any difference in how quick the temperature of food drops based on its cooking method. Let them know that they are going to do their own experiment to find out.

Materials:

1. Microwave
2. Stove
3. Oven
4. Mashed Potatoes
5. Package of Green

   Beans

6. A plastic spoon and fork for each student
7. Notebooks
8. Pencils

Procedure:

1. Get permission to use the school kitchen for the afternoon.
2. Make a batch of mashed potatoes ahead of time. Mashed potatoes are a great food to try because they retain heat longer then other foods.
3. Tell students that you are going to heat up the mashed potatoes three ways: in the oven, on the stove top, and in the microwave. Have students create a hypothesis as to which cooking method will affect how quickly the food cools. Their hypothesis could also be that all of the foods cool off the same. The students should write their hypothesis in their notebooks. They should also state why they think their hypothesis is correct.
4. Take the students into the kitchen.
5. Have one student put a bowl of mashed potatoes in the microwave, a second student put a pot of mashed potatoes on the stove, and third student put a baking dish of mashed potatoes in the oven. They should all be cooked at the same time.
6. When the mashed potatoes have been cooked, each student should take their spoons and eat a bite. They should record how hot the food is and if all three are about the same temperature. This can also be done with a thermometer.
7. Every five minutes for fifteen minutes the students should taste the mashed potatoes to find out which cooking methods are cooling off faster. Make sure all taste tests are recorded in the notebooks.
8. Now have three students prepare some green beans the same way you prepared the mashed potatoes.
9. Taste test the green beans every three or four minutes. They should cool off faster then the mashed potatoes.
10. Record all of the taste test results in the notebooks.

Review:

Have students comment on the results. The results are the conclusion to the project. Have students compare their hypothesis to the conclusion and discuss why they may have been right or wrong.