Science experiment:
Which sugar in yeast produces the most gas? We added a tablespoon of yeast to one warm cup of water into 3 separate bottles, and we capped the tops with a balloon over it.
The first bottle only contained yeast, which was our control for the experiment. The #2 bottle had 2 tablespoons of sugar with the yeast and water. #3 bottle contained 2 tablespoons of molasses with yeast and warm water.
We measured the circumference of each balloon in 15-minute intervals up to 1 hour.
Note to self if we repeat this experiment: For this experiment, I started to take pictures at 45 minutes. But I think it’ll be useful to take pictures at each 15 -minute interval. Also, make sure to mix the contents well before covering each of the bottle tops with a balloon.
Post-experiment curiosity experiment:
If you are looking to do a science experiment on yeast and learning that you can activate yeast with sugar and warm water, I hope you give this one a try!
22 responses to “Science experiment with yeast”
Wow. Amazingly creative. I was one of the Science Olympiad parent teachers at my kids elementary school. Kids could qualify in 4th a and 5th grade. First it was oceanography with my daughter, and next astronomy with my son. I gave the kids university level texts. They ate it up. I was blown away by how smart they were. There was a third grader who was allowed to sit in astronomy because he was so obviously brilliant. I had to hold him by his belt to make him sit down at times. None of us understood what Dark Matter was really, He explained it to all of us.
I have never underestimated the superior intelligence of children.
That’s so cool 😎
Thanks, friend! This is from the science curriculum I mentioned to you before: God’s Design/ Chemistry and Ecology.
wow! That is amazing to see the balloons inflate like that from just yeast, water, and sugar/molasses. 🙂
It was fun to see it continue to inflate by little increments over the hour!
Hmm, the next time I make bread, I wonder if I should replace the sugar with molasses to get an airier loaf.
Maybe! That would be an interesting change up to the baking recipe. If you do, please let me know the results of it.
Will do!
How fun was this, I was surprised with the results.
Same here! I thought the yeast with water would produce more gas than just the little inflation it made.
I remember doing this experiment for my science fair when I was a kid, so fun!
That’s great! It seems to be a popular experiment to learn about chemical reactions.
Ohhh interesting and fun 😁
It was fun and interesting to do with the kids! They did some notetaking too of the measurements and time.
Cool! We never did fun stuff like this. Did you do the Coke and Mento experiment?
We did not do the Coke and Mentos experiment; it sounds fun and interesting to do outside. I think the kids did an experiment with this at church a few years ago, but we need to repeat it! Thanks for the reminder.
You are welcome and if you decide it is messy, even for outside, go to YouTube and search for “mentos explosion video” – no mess and you still see the geyser.
Is this what happens in my stomach? I thought I was having appendicitis last week after drinking a teaspoon of maple syrup in my coffee with a breakfast biscuit!
Oh my goodness! That sounds painful.
I’m not sure if maple syrup would do that, but maybe it was just a bad combo for your stomach. I hope you are better.
Oh yes, the intense pain lasted only about 15 minutes. Later I realized that it was gas!
I enjoy a teaspoon of maple syrup for the iron to have something beneficial for those calories instead of sugar or artificial sweetener creamers in my coffee! ☕️
It hasn’t happened again, so must have been an experiment in my bowels!
Maybe one of your kids will become a scientist for a career!
Okay – I want to attempt to replicate your experiment. 1 TBS yeast, 2 TBS sweetener and how much warm water?
I hope you do and enjoy the experiment! It’s 1 cup of warm water for each bottle. I TBS yeast for each bottle, and 2 TBS of sugar, and 2 TBS of molasses.