Activity 1 Teacher Notes - Energy Content of Food PS-2820

Teacher Notes – Activity 1: Energy Content of Food

Time Estimates Preparation: 30 min Activity: 30 min

Objectives
Students will be able to…
 use a Temperature Probe to measure the change in temperature of water that is heated by a burning
sample of food
 calculate the amount of thermal energy absorbed by the water
 compare the energy content of the food samples they test

Notes
 Sensor calibration is good laboratory practice. However, this activity deals only with
relative changes in measurements. It is not necessary to calibrate the Fast-Response
Temperature Probe.
 Be aware of students who have a food allergy (e.g., allergy to peanuts).
 This is a ‘smelly’ lab because of the burning food, so plan accordingly.
 Remind your students to be careful when using the matches and wooden splints.
 Encourage your students to remain still while the food is burning so that the flames from
the food samples make contact with the bottom of the aluminum can.
A calorie is the amount of energy it takes to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one
degree Celsius. The ‘food calorie’ – indicated by Calorie – is one thousand times larger. The
Calorie is the unit found on food packaging. (1 Calorie = 1000 calories = 4186 joules.)
Sample Data
The screenshots show temperature data for the known quantity of water warmed by burning a
peanut and by burning a cashew nut.

Peanut Cashew

Biology with Xplorer GLX Teacher Notes © 2005 PASCO p. 137

Activity 1 Teacher Notes - Energy Content of Food PS-2820

Lab Report - Activity 1: Energy Content of Foods

Answers and Sample Data
Pre-Lab Questions
All human activity requires “burning” food for energy. When samples of different kinds of food
are burned, which of the food samples will produce the most energy?
1. Marshmallow? Cashew? Popcorn? Which food sample will produce the most energy?
2. How will you compare one food sample to another?
3. Will the amount of mass of the food sample make a difference?
4. Will the time that the food takes to burn make a difference?
Student answers will vary depending on their experience with the food samples. The purpose of
the activity is to compare the energy given off by each sample as it is burned.
Data Table
Item Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 Sample 4
marshmallow popcorn __________ ___________
Mass of empty container 48.49 g 48.40 g g g
Mass of container + water 98.35 g 98.33 g g g
Mass of water 49.95 g 49.93 g g g
Initial mass of sample + holder 7.69 g 7.41 g g g
Final mass of sample + holder 7.30 g 7.19 g g g
Change of mass, food sample 0.39 g 0.22 g g g
Initial temperature 22.8 C 23.3 C C C
Final temperature 24.2 C 30.7 C C C
Temperature change, ∆T 1.4 C 7.4 C C C
Heat, Q 0.2923 kJ 1.5444 kJ kJ kJ
Energy content (heat/mass) 0.7495 kJ/g 7.0202 kJ/g kJ/g kJ/g

Class Results Table: Average Energy Content for each food type:

Food Type ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________

Energy content kJ/g kJ/g kJ/g kJ/g

Biology with Xplorer GLX Teacher Notes © 2005 PASCO p. 138

Activity 1 Teacher Notes - Energy Content of Food PS-2820

Data
Make a sketch of a graph of one run of data for temperature versus time, including labels for the
y- and x-axes.

Temperature See Sample Data in

Teacher Notes

Questions Time

1. Which food had the highest energy content?

In this example, the popcorn had the highest energy content at 7.0202 kJ per g.
2. Which food had the lowest energy content?
In this example, the marshmallow had the lowest energy content at 0.7495 kJ per g.
3. Food energy is expressed in a unit called a Calorie. There are 4.18 kilojoules (or 4180
joules) in one Calorie. Based on the class average for peanuts, calculate the number of
Calories in a 50-gram package of peanuts.
_______kJ ⎛ Calorie ⎞ ⎛ 50g ⎞
Answers will vary. Calories = ⎜⎝ 4.18kJ ⎟⎠ ⎜⎝ pkg ⎟⎠
g

4. Two of the foods in the activity have a high fat content (peanuts and cashews) and two
have a high carbohydrate content (marshmallows and popcorn). From your results, what
can you conclude about the relative energy content of fats and carbohydrates?
In this example, the results demonstrate that the food sample that contains fat has the higher
energy content.
5. What advice would you give to a sports team about the energy content of these foods?
Answers will vary. Students should conclude that the food with the highest amount of heat (in kJ)
per mass (g) has the most energy content of the foods they tested.

Biology with Xplorer GLX Teacher Notes © 2005 PASCO p. 139

Activity 1 Teacher Notes - Energy Content of Food PS-2820

6. Do you think that all of the energy released by the burning food sample was absorbed by
the water?
Not all of the energy released by the burning food is absorbed by the water.
7. Why or why not?
Some of the energy released by the burning food is transferred to the air, the aluminum can, and
the food holder instead of the water.
8. What are some things you would do to change the procedure in this activity?
Suggestions might include insulating the setup so less energy is transferred to the air, or
measuring the temperature change of the aluminum can and the food holder in order to
determine how much of the energy they absorb. This suggestion can lead to exploration of
specific heat and heat capacity for different substances.

Biology with Xplorer GLX Teacher Notes © 2005 PASCO p. 140