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PSPKK123August 14, 2014 •  3 Comments

Which snack food is the greasiest? (classic science fun)

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Like most kids, mine are full of questions.  Doing science activities at home is a great way to start answering them.  Today I’m sharing some classic science fun.

which snack food is greasiest

I’ve decided it’s time to start adding more science activities to our time together after school and on the weekends.  I put together a list of classic science activities, and today I’m sharing activity #1.  These are designed to use with kids ages 4-8.

We started with an activity that I knew the kids would love: Which snack food is the greasiest?

snack food 1

We talk a lot about healthy eating at our house.  I try to prepare balanced meals for the kids, and we rarely have junk food in the house.  (This is not because I don’t like junk food.  It’s because I can’t leave it alone…) The kids were pretty excited when they saw me putting Cheetos and Combos into our shopping cart!

I also gathered some healthy food choices like popcorn, cheese, apples, and some packaged food with whole grains and little added sugar.

snack food 2

I explained to the kids that we’d be putting each snack food on a paper towel to see if it left any oil behind.  We made predictions about whether each food would prove to be high or low in fat.  To do this, we looked at food labels.

snack food 4

Hmm… only 5 grams of fat in a serving of Combos?  That’s surprisingly low. Oh, wait… this bag is supposed to hold six servings!

snack food 5

We looked at the amount of fat in a slice of cheese. This was an opportunity to talk about healthy versus unhealthy fats.

snack food 3

As we talked about each food, we made our predictions. Would the snack food leave grease behind, revealing hidden fats?  My Seven filled out a prediction card for each food.

snack food 6

We let the snack foods rest on the paper towels for about ten minutes. Of course, during that time we had to have a snack.  Since our kids only get to have Cheetos at parties, pot lucks, or open houses, they were pretty pumped.

snack food 7

Now was the test! We dumped the snack food off each paper towel, one by one.  First was the air-popped popcorn.

snack food 8

Still dry!

snack food 9

Of course, the Cheetos would be the real test.

snack food 10

Woah, look at that grease!

As it turned out, Cheetos were the only snack food that left oil on the paper towel.  We were surprised that the Combos left no grease. Maybe because of the pretzel coating?

We talked about the fact that hidden fats are not the only sign of an unhealthy snack.  A long list of ingredients, refined sugar and flour, and other factors can also make a snack unhealthy.

Other foods to try:

  • cookies
  • corn chips
  • rice cakes
  • dried fruit
  • french fries
  • nuts

Further investigations:

  • Compare the results of a particular food in three different brands.
  • Dip snack foods in water and see how much of a floating oil slick they create.

The science:

When the snack food leaves behind a lot of oil, that means it’s high in fat.  Like protein and carbohydrates, fat is a fuel our body needs.  But too much of one particular kind of fuel is unhealthy.  And while some fats are healthy for you, others hurt your body.  It’s important to balance unhealthy fats with fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods.   We can make healthier food choices by reading food labels and choosing foods with a short ingredient list.

Stay tuned for more science fun!

big-book-of-science

If you’re looking for step by step science experiments to do with your kids, I highly recommend Time for Kids’ Big  Book of Science Experiments. I’m about to renew it from the library for the third time!

For more science fun, follow us on Pinterest!

Follow The Measured Mom’s board Science for Preschoolers on Pinterest.

Follow The Measured Mom’s board Science fun (gr. K + up) on Pinterest.

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Reader Interactions

3 Comments

  1. amy jones

    January 3, 2019 at 10:14 am

    This is great! I’m teaching a series of six classes for an after school program and I love this one. The only thing I would want to share is be careful with dairy and especially cheese as being “healthy.” Rather than drone on I would say please check out these links. I dont want to sound preachy I only want to bring awareness to others.
    Cheese is on top when it comes to sources of concentrated fat and cholesterol. I hear ya that processed foods are soooo bad though.
    https://www.pcrm.org/news/exam-room-podcast/cheese-trap
    and
    Forks over Knives or What the Health on Netflix. I gave up dairy and meat 1.5 years ago and never felt better.

    Reply to this comment
  2. mrsavljenje bez vecere

    August 23, 2014 at 10:25 am

    Spot on with this write-up, I actually think
    tis amazing site needs far more attention. I’ll probably be returning to read through more, thanks for the info!

    Reply to this comment
  3. Natalie PlanetSmartyPants

    August 20, 2014 at 11:47 am

    Great lesson! I like that you made predictions first. Thanks for sharing with After School Link Up!

    Reply to this comment

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