Gelatin vs Pineapple Gelatin

Gelatin vs Pineapple Gelatin Lesson Video:

Lesson Plan:

*You can use the document in the link below to either: tailor the experiment to your needs or to have a printable version of this lesson plan*

Google Doc of Gelatin vs Pineapple Gelatin Lesson Plan

The plan is editable and printable. Copy the Google Doc in your own drive and make edits or you can just print.

Overview:

In this food chemistry experiment, students will have a product of (3) gelatins: gelatin with frozen pineapple, gelatin with canned pineapple, and gelatin with any fruit they would like (canned fruit: peaches, oranges, strawberries). The main purpose of this experiment is to analyze why and which one of three of the gelatins changed form and the function of enzymes in everyday life.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Compare and contrast the two different gelatins.
  2. Why/How does gelatin change form?
  3. Identify chemistry components
    1. Why do other fruits set better with gelatin?
    2. What are enzymes?
    3. Connect food to chemistry.
    4. What happens when pineapple meets gelatin?

Logistics:

STEAM Subjects: 

Science (Chemistry) and Food (gelatin and fruits)

Science Vocabulary: 

Chemistry, Enzymes, thermometer, melting, solids, liquids, collagen, control variable

Time: 

15-20 minutes

Materials:

Materials per student:

  • 2 Ziplock bags
  • Spoon

Food items per student:

  • ~1.5 oz or 1 ring of Fresh/FrozenPineapple
  • ~1.5 oz canned pineapple
  • Other: Fruit (bananas, apples, oranges)
  • 2-3 Premade Jellos 
    • The jello must be made from gelatin and not made from carrageenan or agar kind. The experiment only works with gelatin.

Special Thank You to Our Funding From:

CSU Internal Funding Sources:

  • IRA (Instructionally Related Activities Fund)
  • Faculty Small Grant

External Funding Sources:

  • Adobe