Milk, Juice, Carrot Lab

KITCHEN LAB

MILK EXPERIMENT

Hypothesis: If I leave the milk in a war, dark spot for a few days, then the milk will turn sour because it's slightly acidic.

DAY 1

Day 2:  You can see here from the image that the milk is thickening a bit by the proof of the slight ring around the glass.

DAY 2

 Day 3:  As we can see now, the milk has what you can call officially "clabbered," a term from the Irish, which mean "to thicken," and can actually be considered a "delicacy," 

DAY 3

Conclusion:   By leaving the milk out for a few days it allowed the acidity in the milk to increase and as the milk turned thick, which in turn would typically allow "good bacteria" to grow, but because this milk was pasteurized and not raw, the good bacteria was killed off from the pasteurization process. Although once refrigerated could still be good to use--although not in my book! Ha!

JUICE EXPERIMENT

 Observations

 Room Temperature Water:

When I poured the juice into the water at room temperature, the molecules in the water caused the juice to break up very slowly and distribute evenly. Maybe because there was more oxygen in the water, the juice was slow to distribute evenly throughout the jar.

 Ice Water:

With the juice poured into the ice water, it appeared to distribute quicker, than with the room temperature water and looks darker in color, although the water is much denser the colder it gets. 

 Boiling Water:

The boiling water changed the color of the juice to an almost purple bluish color.  The energy from the molecules in the boiling water was moving so fast that when the juice hit the water, it also changed the color of the juice.  Almost immediately distributed the juice evenly throughout the jar.

CARROT EXPERIMENT

Hypothesis:  If I put salt in the water then place the carrot in the salt water for twenty four hours, the carrot will shrink due to the salt solute because it's a hyper tonic solution and the molecules in the salt water will dehydrate the carrot causing it to shrink. Fresh water will make the carrot expand because the molecules in the water will soak into the carrot to make it swell and would be considered a hypo tonic solution.

Initial length and width of carrot pieces:
Piece 1-Salt: 4.45 length and 3.25 width
Piece 2-Fresh: 3.75 length and 3.25 width

Beginning

 After 10 Hours...

10 hours later

After-experiment length and width of carrot pieces:

Piece 1-Salt: 3.75 length and 3.00 width

Piece 2-Fresh:  3.75 length and 3.25 width

24 hours later

Conclusion:  It was obvious that the carrot in the salt water did shrink in length and width because the strings fell off. The texture of the salt carrot appeared shriveled up as well. The carrot in the fresh water was swollen because the water had soaked into the carrot and made it swell. although there wasn't that much of a difference in measurements before and after. I could tell by the tightness of the string after that the carrot had swelled up. This experiment as stated in my hypothesis is a process of the osmosis in the water.

 

Unit Paper 1

Americans and Protein—How Much is Enough?

The concern of protein intake can be a thought for many of us exercise fanatics. Our textbook describes how the body manufactures certain amino acids but it requires others through the diet.  Through my own personal research, I have learned some interesting points about protein—although they may be contrary to what some believe, but are supported by scientific research.  I will share some of these points below. 

A question often asked, pertains to the magic number of how many grams of protein are required by a human adult?  One can argue to the reasoning of why the larger recommended daily allowances, in places even such as Germany? But new research suggests that our requirements may be significantly lower.   In, Cousens (1986), A Harvard researcher, Dr. Hegsted, found that we might only need 25-30 grams per day. In, Gabriel Cousens, “Spiritual Nutrition,” he quotes, “Dr. K. Eimer found that when athletes reduced their protein intake from 100 grams of animal protein to 50 grams of vegetable protein, their performance improved.” (p. 269) Cousens explains further, that apes who are considerably stronger than humans consume only .2 to 2.2 percent diet of protein, as they are herbivores—now that is interesting.

Another unique idea us Americans have claimed, is that too much protein can actually be bad for us—What do you think about this? According to Cousens (1986), in the Wendt doctrine, they visually observed how excess protein, clogs the basement membrane between the capillaries and the cells, which discourages the enhancement of oxygen and nutrients in the body. Or maybe, to take this concept a stretch further—did you know that it’s the Americans idea that we don’t need to consume a complete protein at a meal in order for our bodies to absorb it?  To this day, a popular belief that vegetarians have and are still struggling with, is being able to ‘form a complete protein,’ for example, from grains and vegetables. Again, the Wendt Doctrine expresses, serum albumen remained steady during fasting when no protein was consumed. (p. 270-271) Evidently this theory is due to the body’s ability to maintain an amino acid pool and send it to our body where it’s needed.   So in a sense, the body synthesizing proteins as needed, and next collects the ingredients from different sources in the body—makes complete sense.

As mentioned on mensfitness.com, a six-ounce serving size of Greek yogurt has approximately 18 grams of protein! Understanding that apes only consume about 2.2 percent protein in their diet and are stronger than we are, could it be possible that one container of Greek yogurt could have a whole day’s worth of protein, without having to supplement with nutritional powders, etc.?

With this vast array of ever consuming knowledge and information about protein that is out there today, we need to disseminate what information is relevant to each of us. Then monitor our own health and stay open to new possibilities when it comes to nutritional research.

Sources

Cousens, G., M.D. (1986). Spiritual Nutrition, 18, 269-274.

Johnson, M.D. (2012). Human Biology: Concepts and Current Issues, Sixth Edition. Glenville, IL: Pearson Education Inc., 2, 40-42 .

Liberman, B. (2013). Top Protein Foods. Retrieved from http://www.mensfitness.com/training/pro-tips/top-protein-foods.

PART II

1. I am most proud of this paper on protein. I’ve had a fascination with protein for as long as I can remember and always had lots of questions concerning how much I need to consume into my own diet and what type of protein is the most beneficial.
2. So far the information I understand the best are the cell’s organelles. I believe because I have studied them before in another class, so it has made them easier to remember.
3. A couple actions I have taken, one, I purchased the study guide to the textbook, which has given me a little more depth of the text and it’s end of the chapter review. Another enhancement that has helped me, is utilizing the e-online textbook quizzes and web interactive videos for each chapter.
4. I have felt the most connected when I have plenty of time to thoroughly look over and review the homework and reading material required at the time, at length. I’ve felt the most distance when I get stuck on one assignment due for class, and know that I have several piling up that I don’t have enough time to get to and feel rushed to complete them.
5. One idea that would help me to enjoy the class more, is not to be so inundated with so many things due at once—for instance, this paper, the lab, the quiz, and studying for an exam all in the same week, on top of taking another class and working, I found this to be very stressful. I’m certainly not afraid of hard work, but I have found at times for it to be a bit much.