492 Journal of Chemical Education

_Vol. 87 No. 5 May 2010

_pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc

_r2010 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.

10.1021/ed8001732 Published on Web 03/10/2010

In the Classroom

Summer Camp To Engage Students in NutritionalChemistry Using Popular Culture and Hands-OnActivitiesJoanna M. Skluzacek*Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, The Pennsylvania State University, UniversityPark, Pennsylvania 16802*jms1020@psu.edu

Joshua Harper and Emily HerronDepartment of Curriculum and Instruction, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park,Pennsylvania 16802

Jacqueline M. BortiatynskiDepartment of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802

With child obesity rates soaring across the United States,child nutrition has received a lot of attention in the media,classroom, and academic research (1-4). Teaching childrenabout the food pyramid, serving sizes, and exercise often lendsitself to a lecturing format, which does little to help studentsintegrate what they learn into their daily lives. Through theAction Potential Science Experience (APSE), a five-day summercamp, we created a novel approach to teaching nutrition from ananalytical chemistry point of view. The goals of APSE's Burger`N Fries Chemistry campwere to increase student interest and toimprove content knowledge of analytical chemistry and nutri-tion by submersing students into theme-based activities. Thesetypes of summer programs have been documented to enhancestudents' learning and appreciation of science (5).

In the Burger `N Fries Chemistry camp, fourth througheighth grade students were exposed to basic elements of nutri-tion, but the main focus was on what constitutes the food theyeat and how these components provide the body with energy.The participants in Burger `N Fries Chemistry became foodchemists to help a fictitious school board decide whether tocontinue serving a hamburger-and-French fries lunch. The campran for five days in the summers of 2006 and 2007. Instead oflecturing students on what must be in their diet to remainhealthy, students collected data and drew their own conclusionsabout the nutritional value of not only a typical hamburger-and-fries lunch, but also alternatives to this meal. For example,students tested tofu and vegetable burgers in the same way theytested hamburger. They also investigated different cookingmethods, such as baking and frying, to determine how thesemay alter the nutritional value of foods.

Classic colorimetric and analytical techniques used byprofessionals in the nutrition field were replicated by studentsto determine where carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are found ina basic meal. A majority of these analytical techniques arequalitative in nature; however, in the case of fats, students alsodetermined the quantity (by mass) of fats in various componentsof a meal. The analytical experiments were supported by short

lectures (usually less than 15 min), kinesthetic activities, games,models, and pictures. The activities also emphasized the impor-tance of a balanced diet, moderation of food intake, and exercise.The length of the summer experience allowed an in-depthexploration of the major components of food, such as carbohy-drates, fats, and protein, and also allowed time to discuss foodsafety, food preservatives, the food pyramid, and digestion. At theend of the five days, students reported their findings to the schoolboard made up of parents and instructors through oral presenta-tions.

To formally measure the impact of the APSE Burger`N Fries Chemistry camp on student learning and scienceinterest, written assessments were performed. Written precampand postcamp surveys were administered to participants on thefirst day and last day of the camp. The surveys evaluatednutritional knowledge, appreciation of science, and appeal ofdifferent science-experience titles. In 2006, 35 students partici-pated in the camp assessment, while in 2007, 43 studentsparticipated. The surveys varied in length from 2006 and2007. The 2006 surveys (precamp and postcamp) contained 6knowledge-based questions, whereas in 2007, the surveys con-tained 12 knowledge-based questions. Demographic informa-tion, attitude queries, and marketing questions were alsocontained in the surveys.

Methods and Curriculum

Professional-Development Tool

At the core of the APSE camp is the context-based guided-inquiry curriculum. The APSE laboratory directors developinquiry-based curricula in the context of popular culture.Another important aspect of the APSE camp is the division ofparticipants into classrooms by grade level. This allows thepresentation of material to be tailored to specific age groups.The focus of theAPSE curriculum is to teach science concepts andmethods while challenging the participants to solve an over-arching problem from the popular-culture context. The learning

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experience is shared by the participants and the APSE instruc-tional team of undergraduate student mentors and classroominstructors. The undergraduate mentors share their knowledge ofscientific content with the students and in exchange gain anenhanced understanding of communicating the scientific methodapproach to problem solving as well as classroom managementskills. Eachmentor hired by theAPSE camp goes through rigoroustraining in science methods and curriculum content. The in-structors, frequently local middle and high school educators, havethe opportunity to enhance their science content and methodsknowledge and are also able to try a new curriculum that isadaptable to their classrooms.

Hands-on Activities

Each day of Burger `N Fries Chemistry camp focused on adiscrete part of a typical meal. In addition, the students wererequired to keep a food diary for the meals they consumed. Thediary forced students to categorize their meals into food groupsand to describe how much they ate of each group. The diary alsorequired students to document the time duration of physicalactivity they took part in each day. On the first day of camp, afteran introduction to lab safety and scientific practices, the youngfood chemists focused their energy on carbohydrates. The secondday was dedicated to proteins, and lipids took the spotlight onthe third day. Exercise was also discussed on the third day as thestudents took time off to visit the pool. The curriculum on thefourth day was devoted to natural antibiotics, colors, andpreservatives found in a typical meal. On the last day, the majorthemes of the week were reviewed and brought together in termsof total digestion. Throughout the five days, the students workedto build their oral presentations to the school board, which weredelivered on the last afternoon. In the interest of space, only twotopics of the camp are described. Many of the other analyticalmethods for nutritional analysis can be found in the literature(6-8).

Carbohydrate Detection

The first day of Burger `N Fries Chemistry was committedto the exploration of carbohydrates. Students were exposed tosimple and complex sugars through model making, pictures,games, and several hands-on experiments. Activities emphasizedthe role of carbohydrates in the diet, the proper daily serving ofcarbohydrates, and how simple and complex carbohydrates arerelated. Once the background was firmly in place, the nextstudent task was to predict which foods in a typical lunch menucontained simple carbohydrates (i.e., sugars) or complex carbo-hydrates (i.e., starches). The students tested their hypotheseswith simple, qualitative, wet-chemical techniques (9). Benedict'ssolution was used to identify the presence of sugars in foodstuffsand iodine was used to detect starches. The participants brokeinto small groups and, with the assistance of their mentors, beganthe exploration by setting up reference tests to identify a positiveor negative colorimetric result using water, a 10% starch solution,and a 10% apple juice solution. The small student groups thenworked together to complete a data table containing nine foodsto determine whether these items contained sugars, starches,both, or neither. The items analyzed were milk, soda pop,ketchup, white bread, wheat bread, French fries, corn oil,hamburger, and soy burger. Once all the groups tested each food,the total class compared results. If there were discrepancies in the

results, the food was reanalyzed. For example, milk tests negativefor starches and positive for simple sugars. Although the tests arequalitative, the students can easily identify the dramatic colorchanges that occur for positive results.

Extraction and Quantification of Lipids

Fats and lipids are hot topics from a nutritional standpoint.They are often portrayed as “bad” because of all the press abouttrans fats, but most fats are an essential part of the diet. The keyto the fat puzzle, as with all parts of the diet, is moderation,serving size, and the type of fat ingested. On day three of theBurger `N Fries Chemistry camp, the students investigated lipidsin detail. They explored the different types of lipids throughmodel building, pictures, trivia games, and solubility tests. TheBurger `N Fries chemists then determined the fat content indifferent varieties of beef and tofu. The beef in these experimentsvaried from 10:90 fat-to-beef ratio to 30:70 fat-to-beef ratio asfound in a typical supermarket. A simple method of boiling thesamples in water for several minutes and removing the fat afterthe solution has cooled gave the students a visual idea of thequantity of fat present. The percent mass of fat was determinedby using a laboratory balance. The students also investigatedcooking methods and their impact on fat content of preparedfood. In this regard, they isolated and quantified fat extractedfrom fried French fries and potato chips and compared theresults to French fries and potato chips that were baked. Fat fromthese food items were extracted using hexane as a solvent (10).For safety reasons, fume hoods were used by the students whenhexane was used for fat extraction.

Formal Assessment of Student Learning and Science Interest

On the first day of camp, students were given a precampsurvey containing both demographic questions and knowledge-based questions about food chemistry, nutrition, and science.Students completed the same survey again on the last day. Thesurvey questions were slightly different in 2007 from those of2006 such that the years must be analyzed individually. The 2006surveys contained 6 knowledge-based questions, whereas in2007, the surveys contained 12 knowledge-based questions.However, one can still compare precamp and postcamp surveytrends for each year and compare questions used in both 2006and 2007. Averages and standard deviations were compiled forresponses to each question, and the total knowledge score wassummed and then averaged for all the students. The totalknowledge score is the total number of knowledge questionsthe students answered correctly. Since there were more questionsin the 2007 survey than the 2006 survey, the score number ishigher in 2007. The precamp and postcamp survey data werethen analyzed and compared using t tests. The curriculum didnot change from 2006 to 2007. However, the instructors andsmall-group mentors for the camp did change, so it is likely thatthe presentation of material could have varied slightly from yearto year.

The young food chemists were also presented with a series ofsummer camp titles and asked which six they may like to attend.In 2006, the data were gathered through written surveys; in 2007,the information was collected through oral, small-group discus-sion. The series of camp titles included the traditional sciencesubject names (e.g., Forensic Science) and their correspondingtheme-based or pop-culture title (e.g., Penn State CSI).

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In the Classroom

Results and Discussion

Precamp and Postcamp Surveys

The precamp survey and postcamp survey were primarilycreated to assess campers' nutritional knowledge and apprecia-tion of science. There was a statistically significant differencebetween the initial survey and the final survey knowledge score inboth 2006 and 2007, which indicates knowledge gains as a resultof the science experience. Results of the surveys are presented inFigure 1. In 2007, postcamp surveys yielded an average score of7.0, while the precamp survey yielded an average score of 5.4. In2006, postcamp surveys yielded an average score of 3.4, while theprecamp surveys yielded an average score of 3.0. The 2007 surveycontained more questions than the 2006 survey, which accountsfor the higher scores seen in 2007. No gender differences wereseen in knowledge scores; however, positive correlations werefound between grade level and initial survey knowledge score inboth 2006 and 2007 as seen in Figure 2. In 2006, this positivecorrelation was also seen in final survey knowledge scores.Interestingly, no correlation was found between grade level andpostcamp survey knowledge scores in 2007. Since campers weregrouped by grade level into different classrooms both in 2006 and2007, their interactions with the camp curriculum differed andmay have led to differing gains in knowledge.

Through further analysis of the data, it was found thatstudents who chose the camp for themselves, instead of simplyfollowing parental advice, tended to score better on the postcamp

survey than students who did not choose the camp. This trendwas found in both 2006 and 2007 as shown in Figure 3,indicating that self-motivation is a factor in knowledgegain. This information supports previous work by Stake andMares (11).

To explore the motivation aspect further in 2007, we askedthe students whether they felt science was fun and looked forconnections between attitude and aptitude in science. Out of43 students who took the precamp survey, 38 said science wasfun, two said it was not fun, one said sometimes, and twostudents did not respond. On the postcamp survey, 40 saidscience was fun, zero said it was not, one said sometimes, and twodid not respond. In our study, there was no relationship betweenstudents who did not actively select the science experiencethemselves and whether this group thought science was fun.However, the data showed that an overwhelming number of thestudents thought science was fun.

To assess the impact of the camp name in relation to popculture or student-relevant themes, we asked students to selectscience-experience titles whose names also had a traditionalscience-subject name. The results of the evaluation for 2007are displayed in Figure 4. Each student could select up to six titlesfrom the list of randomly arranged titles. In both 2006 and 2007,

Figure 1. Comparison of knowledge scores on precamp and postcampsurveys. The bars indicate the range of individual scores.

Figure 3. Comparison of knowledge score on the postcamp survey forstudents who chose the camp for themselves and those who did not. Thebars indicate the range of individual scores. (Note the scores in which thestudents selected both options were disregarded.).

Figure 2. Comparison of knowledge score on precamp and postcamp surveys for each grade.

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the campers tended to choose the theme-based or pop-culturetitle as opposed to the traditional-science subject. The only set ofcamp titles for which this did not hold true was Food Chemistryand The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Side of Your Food) in2007. In this case, more participants chose Food Chemistry.These results demonstrate the importance of considering stu-dents' interest to create appealing camp themes and titles. Sincestudents seem to perform better in science experiences that theyselect themselves, having an interesting title is beneficial. Liberkohas pointed out that relating science to a story or theme can havepositive effects on students' interest (12). We also believe there isa link between the title and the expectation of the scienceexperience to be fun for the participants.

Conclusion

As our society's waistbands increase and weight-relateddiseases become more prevalent, eating healthier is essential.Creating nutrition curriculum that is informative and effective isa difficult task. Understanding healthy eating and actuallypracticing healthy eating are very different. Programs such asthe APSE's Burger `N Fries Chemistry camp give children achance to learn nutrition by experiencing hands-on science.Assessing the camp through surveys has allowed for evaluationof the camp and further development of the curriculum. Theassessments shed light on campers' prior knowledge, which isimportant to know when creating activities for campers. Theresults of the assessment also allow us to identify the areas of thecamp that were truly effective. Most importantly, the issues in

nutrition where more focus is needed become evident. Usingthese findings, a more effective camp curriculum can be created.

Literature Cited

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Institute for food Technologists. http://members.ift.org/IFT/Education/EduResources/fc.htm (accessed Feb 2010).

7. Illinois State board of Education. Integrating Education in Scienceand Technology: Food Science Curriculum. http://www.isbe.net/career/pdf/fcs_guide.pdf (accessed Feb 2010).

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9. Flynn Scientific, Inc. Chemistry of Food, Vol. 23; Flynn ChemtopicLab Series: Batavia, IL, 2003.

10. Katz, D. A. Determination of Fat in Potato Chips. http://www.chymist.com/Fat%20in%20potato%20chips.pdf (accessed Feb 2010).

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Figure 4. Students' preference for science camp titles.