Kimbrough_Pre Lab Scientific Method Skittles .docx

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University of Kansas *

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102

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Biology

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Feb 20, 2024

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Pre-Lab Activity BIOL 102 Pre-Lab - Scientific Method Learning Objectives: ● To use the scientific method including making observations, identifying variables and controls, collecting, and analyzing data and drawing conclusions. ● To use basic calculations to analyze data: this includes means and p-values Question: ● Does smell improve the consumers ability to identify the flavor of Skittles®? Summary: ● In this lab we will use the process of the scientific method to determine if smell improves a person’s ability to identify the flavor of candy. We will start with observations, generate questions, perform an experiment, conduct data analysis, and validate our hypothesis. Materials Needed for Lab ● 1 bag of Skittles® Red Bag ● Plate / napkins / paper towel ● Spoon ● Pre-lab document Scientific Method Spring 2024-1 1

Pre-Lab Activity BIOL 102 Background We are going to start by reading the article on WFPL.org – What ‘Big Candy’ Knows About Gummy Bears and Our Brains? https://wfpl.org/big-candy-knows-gummy-bears-brains/ After reading this article, other questions that we might have include: Does the color of the candy influence the consumer’s flavor perception? Do olfactory senses influence the consumers’ flavor perception? Candy manufacturers are relying on our three senses; sight, taste, and smell to distinguish the flavors of the candy. How are these three senses connected? And if we eliminate one or more of these senses, can we still identify the flavor of the candy? How is flavor related to taste, sight and smell related? Flavor is defined as multisensory, and relies on the interactions of taste, sight, smell, texture, and auditory information. Overtime we have become accustomed to associating certain flavors with certain colors, such as orange flavor with orange color. If you were to see a red candy; we would most likely think the flavor should be cherry, strawberry or even raspberry. We would most likely not think the flavor of the red candy is orange or lemon. Taste Senses The first step in tasting, is for solid foods is to break down food substances into molecules that can be identified. When you chew on foods, the enzymes in your saliva begin the process of digestion. The true receptors of taste are your taste buds. Taste buds, up to 4,000 of them are mostly located on the top and sides of your tongue, but there are also taste buds in your mouth and throat. Each taste bud consists of 20-30 chemoreceptors called taste receptors, which are neurons sensitive to chemicals dissolved in saliva. When chemicals such as sugar molecules stimulate taste receptors on the tongue’s surface, the receptors respond by sending an electrical signal via the peripheral nervous system to the brain which interprets the signal as a specific “taste”. Although our taste experience is quite varied and complex, based on the information that is transported from the tongue to the brain there are thought to be at least five basic qualities of taste: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and savory (umami). Sensitivity to the five taste groups differs across the tongue. All taste buds can detect all the taste sensations, but some are specialized. For example, the taste buds at the back of your mouth are most sensitive to bitter. These taste buds cause you to gag and spit out bitter substances that could be toxic. Olfactory Senses If you hold your nose shut, close your eyes, and eat chocolate, you may not know what you are eating. Without your sense of smell, chocolate just tastes sweet or bitter. Smell is just as important, if not more important than taste in identifying flavors. Your sense of smell adds flavor and when used together with taste, it allows humans to have the ability to discern 100,000 different flavors. When we chew our food, Scientific Method Spring 2024-1 2

Pre-Lab Activity BIOL 102 aromas are released that activate our olfactory senses through a channel that connects the roof of our throat to our nose. Our nose has chemoreceptors called olfactory receptors that respond to smells (specific chemicals). Smells stimulate olfactory receptors, which send corresponding signals to the brain. The brain then interprets the signals as different odors. Humans can distinguish over 10,000 odors (compared to the five known taste groups). If you have ever tried to enjoy a meal with a head cold, you know how much your sense of smell adds to flavor. Hypothesis Development To answer the question “Is smell important in being able to identify the flavor of Skittles® candies?”; we might gather a group of friends and conduct a taste panel in which tasters close their eyes and plug their nose. Would our results be different for different flavored candies? What conclusions could we draw from our data? Would our results be significant? The first step in our experiment is to write our hypothesis. For this experiment, we will write a null hypothesis and an alternative hypothesis for each flavor found in the Skittles® bag of candy. The null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis for our experiment are given in Figure 1. Scientific Method Spring 2024-1 3

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Pre-Lab Activity BIOL 102 Figure 1. Null hypothesis and Alternative hypothesis this experiment. If our null hypothesis is supported, our results after conducting our experiment would indicate that number of people that identify the flavor of the candy correctly when blindfolded and plugging their nose is the same as the number of people that correctly identify the flavor of the candy with only their eyes closed. If the hypothesis is supported, smell does not contribute to a person’s ability to identify the flavor. The alternative hypothesis indicates the other possible result for our experiment when our Null Hypothesis is rejected. If the alternative hypothesis is supported, then the results would indicate that number of people that identify the flavor of the candy correctly when eyes closed and plugging their nose is statistically different than the number of people that correctly identify the flavor of the candy when only eyes closed. If a greater number of people identified the flavor correctly using taste and smell, we would report there is evidence to suggest that smell improves the ability to identify the flavor correctly. Experimental Design Once we have our hypothesis, we need to design our experiment. Our hypothesis is comparing taste alone, to taste and smell in one’s ability to identify flavor. To determine what role smell plays in identifying the flavor of the candy, the variable that we will want to change is the person’s ability to smell. To remove the taster’s sense of smell, we will ask them to plug their nose while eating the candy. In this experiment we will have a control group and a treatment group as shown in Figure 2. By comparing the results of these two groups, we will be able to determine the effect of smell on one’s ability to identify the flavor of the candy. Scientific Method Spring 2024-1 4

Pre-Lab Activity BIOL 102 Figure 2: Control and Treatment Groups for Experiment Lab Procedure If you or your participants cannot eat the candy due to food allergies, food sensitivities, religious reasons or other, please let your instructor know and data will be provided. Step 1. Prepare for the project. a) Read the entire Lab Procedure before you begin. b) Read the Assignment Exit Ticket – identify where to record data for each flavor candy. Step 2. Gather required materials. a) Skittles® Red Bag b) Napkin/spoon/paper plate We are handling food for people to eat. Please make sure that the testing area is clean, and you have washed your hands with soap and warm water. Step 3. Prepare your materials. a) You will conduct this experiment for each flavor of candy we are testing. b) For this lab you will use the Lime (green), Strawberry (red) and lemon (yellow) Skittles®. c) Do not share with the tasters what color candies you are using. Step 4. Make sure the area is clean. Step 5. Identify 5 people to be your blind tasters a) Tasters will participate in both the control and treatment groups. b) Tasters should complete the control taste panel before completing the treatment taste panel. Step 6. Control Group – Closed Eyes Scientific Method Spring 2024-1 5

Pre-Lab Activity BIOL 102 a) Share with the participant all 5 flavors: strawberry, grape, orange, lemon and lime. DO NOT share the flavor color combinations. b) Ask the participant to close their eyes or wear a blindfold. c) Place one of each color Skittles® on the plate or napkin. Using the spoon randomly select a candy and place in the participant’s hand. d) After tasting ask the participant to tell you the flavor of the candy. e) Record your data for each participant in Tables 1 - 3 located at the end of this document in Assignment – Exit Ticket. You will record your data in the two columns for the Control Group. i. Record the participants response as a “1” in the column in the corresponding data table. The participants response will be marked as a 1 regardless of a correct or incorrect response. ii. Do not tell the participant whether the color was correct or incorrect. You may share after both experiments are conducted for participants in the room. f) Your participant may want a drink of water when they are finished tasting these three candies. Step 7. Treatment Group – Closed Eyes and Plugged Nose a) Ask the participant to close their eyes or wear a blind fold and plug their nose. b) Place one of each color Skittles® on the plate or napkin. Using the spoon randomly select a candy and place in the participant’s hand. c) After tasting ask the participant to tell you the flavor of the candy. d) Record your data for each participant in Tables 1 - 3 located at the end of this document in Assignment – Exit Ticket. You will record your data in the two columns for the Treatment group. i. Record the participants response as a “1” in the column in the corresponding data table. The participants response will be marked as a 1 regardless of a correct or incorrect response. ii. Do not tell the participant whether the color was correct or incorrect. You may share after both experiments are conducted for participants in the room. Scientific Method Spring 2024-1 6

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Pre-Lab Activity BIOL 102 e) Your participant may want a drink of water when they are finished tasting these three candies. Step 8. Repeat the experiment (control and treatment) until you have collected data for 5 participants and all three candies. Step 9. After all responses have been recorded; complete the Tables by entering a “0” in all empty data cells. Assignment – Exit Ticket Directions: 1. Complete Name and Date 2. Complete Experimental Components Section. 3. Record your experimental data in the data table. 4. Submit your assignment in Canvas; it must be in .pdf or .doc(x) format 1. Name, Student ID, and Date Name: Ben Kimbrough Student ID: 3014821 Date : Jan 19 2024 2. Experimental Components and Materials After reading through the procedure and conducting the taste panel, list the following components for our experiment. When answering the questions, remember each flavor candy tested was considered a separate experiment. Scientific Method Spring 2024-1 7

Pre-Lab Activity BIOL 102 1. Materials Information: Candy Name: Skittles Manufacturer: Wrigley Company Candy flavors: Lime (Green), Strawberry (Red), Lemon (Yellow) 2. Experimental components: a. Independent Variable: (variable or condition we changed between the control and the treatment group) The independent variable in this experiment is the type of Skittles used, in this case, green, red, and yellow. b. Dependent Variable: (this is the variable that is being measured or recorded in Tables 1-3) The dependent variable is the taste perception of response of the blind tasters, which is being measured or recorded in Tables 1-3 c. Replicates or Sample Size (This is the number of times we repeat the experiment – or number of tasters): In our experimental procedure what is the sample size? The sample size in this experiment 5 d. Controlled variables are parts of our experimental procedure that remain constant or the same for each replicate. List 2 constants in our experiment. Closed eyes and nose plugged and eyes closed 3. Data Tables Data for Lime - Green Skittles Scientific Method Spring 2024-1 8

Pre-Lab Activity BIOL 102 Table 1. Experimental Data for Eyes closed and Nose Plugged and then Eyes Closed. Participants correctly or incorrectly identify flavor of Skittle. Control Group Eyes Closed Treatment Group Eyes Closed and Nose Plugged Participant # Correct Incorrect Correct Incorrect 1 1 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 1 3 1 0 0 1 4 1 0 0 1 5 0 1 0 1 Results for Strawberry - Red Skittles Table 2. Experimental Data for Eyes closed and Nose Plugged and then Eyes Closed. Participants correctly or incorrectly identify flavor of Skittle. Control Group Eyes Closed Treatment Group Eyes Closed and Nose Plugged Participant # Correct Incorrect Correct Incorrect 1 1 1 2 1 1 3 1 1 4 1 1 5 1 1 Results for Lemon - Yellow Skittles Scientific Method Spring 2024-1 9

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Pre-Lab Activity BIOL 102 Table 3. Experimental Data for Eyes closed and Nose Plugged and then Eyes Closed. Participants correctly or incorrectly identify flavor of Skittle. Control Group Eyes Closed Treatment Group Eyes Closed and Nose Plugged Participant # Correct Incorrect Correct Incorrect 1 1 1 2 1 1 3 1 1 4 1 1 5 1 1 Scientific Method Spring 2024-1 10

Kimbrough_Pre Lab Scientific Method Skittles .docx

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