5 snack nutrition labels from your kitchen * look for labels with an added sugars section *
Examples of snack options that you might find in your kitchen Pantry
snack 12
snack 2
snack 8
snack 1
snack 4
snack 5
snack 6
snack 9
snack 7
snack 10
snack 10
snack 11
x
xx
Procedure
Before beginning the experiment, each student should make sure they have all needed lab materials present. These are made to be materials each student should be able to find from their own kitchen or a neighbor’s kitchen and they are listed in the “Experiment #1: Carb Counting, Added Sugars, and Diabetes Procedure & Materials” tab. Note: students will notice materials listed labeled, “5 snack nutrition labels”. These can be any 5 snack items from the student’s pantry at home, as long as they have a nutrition label for the students use. Students should look for labels that include both total sugar and added sugar information. Once these items are compiled the student may begin the lab.
Students will take their first snack item and write its name on the first page of the lab answer packet, in the spot labeled “Snack #1 Name”. They will then be ready to analyze the nutrition label of their first selected snack. For the nutrition label analysis, students will specifically focus on carbohydrates and added sugars for this lab. Students will first take note of the total carbohydrate content of the item in grams. This data will be used by the student later on in discussion of diabetes and carbohydrate counting. Students will then take note of the total sugar content and the added sugar content of their snack item. They will mark these down accordingly in the answer sheet under the sections called, “Total sugars (grams) & Added sugars (grams)”.
Next, students will start to work off of the data they have gathered from this nutrition facts label. They will use the total carbohydrate content (in grams) of their selected snack to determine how many carbohydrate choices one serving of this snack would be for someone with diabetes. Students will use what they learned prior to starting the lab in the “Information Students Need to Know for This Lab” tab to complete this part of the lab.
Next, students will work with the grams of sugar data they collected. The lab will bring these numbers to life through math conversions and use of a kitchen scale. For a student, a gram is likely a vague and meaningless unit. However, more students are familiar with units of calories. Students will work to convert the grams of total sugars and added sugars, they recorded from their nutrition label, into calories with the conversion factor they learned about in the “Information students need to know for this lab” tab. Students may use the lab answer packet to guide them in their calculations.
The last step in this lab procedure is for students to physically see what grams of sugar actually look like in the foods they eat. This is the real wow factor of the experiment. Students will use a scale and sugar cubes to measure out in grams what their chosen snack and/or beverage total sugar looks like, followed by measurement of the added sugar.
Starting with measurement of total sugar, one by one students must stack the sugar cubes onto their scale until they measure out the grams of total sugar in one serving of the food or beverage. Once measured, take these sugar cubes off of the scale and put them to the side. Students should now repeat this process for the added sugars (if this information is given on the nutrition facts label chosen). Once students have measured out the two piles of sugar, one pile of total sugar in grams and one pile of added sugars in grams, they can observe how much sugar is really in the food they eat. Note: If students do not have access to a scale they can use the conversion 1 sugar cube = 4 grams of sugar to estimate how many sugar cubes the snack contains.
Students will repeat procedure steps 6-10 for their next 4 nutrition labels, using the lab answer packet to guide themselves.
After the experimental procedure is completed, students can complete the post lab discussion to relate the data they collected in the experiment with the learning content.
