YEAST VS.

SAND EXPERIMENT

You will need: 15 mL of bakers yeast 15 mL of sand hot (not boiling) water 60 mL of sugar 2 small plastic bottles 2 balloons

What to do: 1. Stretch out the balloons by blowing them up and then releasing the air 4 times. Set the balloons aside for now. 2. In each of the two bottles add 30 mL of sugar and approximately 2 inches of warm water and stir until the sugar dissolves. Add 15 mL of yeast to one of the bottles and 15 mL of sand to the other bottle. Stir. You may need to use a funnel. 3. Label each bottle so you know which has the yeast and which has the sand. 4. Place the balloons over the opening of each bottle. 5. Watch the contents of the bottle and the balloons closely. Be patient - it may take a few minutes before you see any changes. Wait for about 20 minutes. 6. Write down your observations and explanations on the POE chart.

How does it work? Yeast is a type of single celled fungus this is used in baking to make bread rise. Yeast does this by feeding on the sugars in the flour and releasing carbon dioxide gas as waste. The process of breaking down sugar molecules into alcohol and carbon dioxide is called fermentation. This same process occurred inside the bottle. The yeast began to feed on the sugar in the water, releasing carbon dioxide gas. The carbon dioxide gas caused the balloon to fill up. Ever wondered why there are little holes in your bread? The carbon dioxide from the yeast makes thousands of bubbles in the dough. These air bubbles are what give the loaf of bread its fluffy texture. Try the same experiment using hotter and colder water. Does the temperature of the water affect how long it takes for the balloon to inflate? What if you substituted juice or soda for the sugar/water solution? Would you get the same result? Try it and find out!