Testing Fats in Food

Patricia A. Banks              Rosa L. Parks Middle School
6906 So. Paxton                14700 So. Robey
Chicago IL 60649               Dixmoor IL 60426
                               (708) 371-9575
Objectives:

     The main objective of this Mini-teach is to provide students with the 
opportunity to test the presence of fat in foods.  Students will become more 
aware of their daily diet. 

Materials Needed:
  
 brown paper bag                      bread (white/wheat)
 peanut butter                        cheese
 margarine                            peanuts (shelled/processed)
 cooking oil                          activity worksheet
 meat                                 pencil and paper
 
Strategy:

Activity 1-Students were shown a brown paper bag to observe and tell what was in 
the bag.  Students gave many different answers.  The answers were written on the 
board, then the actual contents of the bag was revealed. 

Activity 2-How can you test for fat?  Cover the work area with newspaper.  Rub a 
small sample of each material on the paper bag.  Watch for any changes, record 
what you have observed on the activity worksheet. 
 
Activity 3-The removal of fat from a chicken: The chicken was weighed before 
cutting.  The chicken was cut, the fat and the skin were removed and weighed to 
determine the percentage of fat.  The chicken was weighed again to determine the 
weight.  Finally, the bones were removed and weighed to get an accurate weight 
of the whole chicken versus the non-fat chicken. 

Performance Assessment:             

1. Students observed changes on the paper bag when fat was present in a food.
   
2. Students became more aware of the important of having less fat in their diet.

3. Students discuss the facts of:
   A. Losing weight-people who want to lose weight take some fatty foods out of 
      their diet.  
   B. A balanced daily diet-nutrition and metabolism are closely related.  The 
      input into metabolism is our diet.  In other words, "You are what you eat."

Conclusion:

 To determine the effects of diet on growth and health requires not only doing 
 experiments but getting a good understanding and eating a balanced diet.