Project Idea: Does Eliminating Grains from a Meal Leave You Hungry?

Project Idea: Does Eliminating Grains from a Meal Leave You Hungry?
Grade Level: 6th - 9th;  Type: Health Science
Objective:

See if eliminating grains from a meal will often leave people feeling hungry.

Research Questions:

Grains are rich in fiber, iron, and B vitamins which help us grow healthy and strong. They are also quite filling. In this experiment, we compare how "full" people feel after consuming two meals with the same number of calories. One meal, however, will have grains, while the other will not.

Materials:

* Test subjects
  - 50 will have a no-grain breakfast for one week and switch
  - 50 will have a grain breakfast for one week and switch
* Food
* 50 meals in same calories but with no grains each day
* 50 meals in same calories but with grains each day
* Sizable location to do the experiment
* Watch
* Pen/paper for notes

Experimental Procedure:

1) Prepare 50 dishes of breakfast with grains for 50 of your test subjects. A suggestion would be an egg sandwich or cereal.

2) Prepare 50 dishes of breakfast w/o grains for 50 of your test subjects. Include fruits and vegetables that are equal in calories to the grained breakfast.

3) Gather your test subjects in one spot and serve them the breakfast.

4) Instruct your test subject to finish all of the breakfast dish!

5) Tell your test subjects to resume to their daily activities, but write down the time of which they started to feel hungry on a dated piece of paper.

6) Repeat the above steps for one week.

7) During week two, we will now switch the flip-flop the test subject groups. In other words, the 50 people that had the grained breakfast will not have it this week and the people that did not have grains in their breakfast, will have it this week.

8) Repeat steps 1-6 for the second week.

9) Compare the responses for “hunger times” for your test subjects and see if you notice any trends.

Terms/Concepts: Grains; Nutrients; Fiber; Iron; B vitamins; Hunger;  Food Pyramid

Read more at http://www.education.com/science-fair/article/eliminating-grains-meal-make-people-feel-hungry/

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