THE GREAT OREO LAB
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The main purpose of this lab will be analyzing the steps of the scientific method, variables, and reporting our results. We will also dissect how a lab is written well. ENJOY! (nom, nom, nom, NOM!)
Problem/Research Question:
Will an Oreo more quickly dissolve in milk (basic), orange juice (acidic), or water (neutral)?
Hypothesis:
Write your group’s hypothesis below. Remember to write it as an “If...then...because” statement, which means you need to tell me that if you do something then something else will happen because of a certain reason.
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Experiment
Materials Needed
- 3 Clear Plastic Cups
- 1 250 mL Beaker
- 3 Original Oreos/Sandwich Cookies
- 3 Stir Sticks
- Stopwatch
- Lab Packet (for recording data)
- Writing Utensil
- Pulp-free Orange Juice
- 2% Milk
- Water
Procedure
YOU WILL BE DOING ONE LIQUID AT A TIME!
This will make for easier recording of results (especially if we run out of time) and clean-up.
1. Fill one cup with 200 mL of liquid (choose only one to start with).
2. Drop one of the Oreos in one of the cups and start timer.
3. Periodically poke the Oreo with the stir stick and check the bottom and sides of the cup.
4. Record the time, on the data table below, once the stir stick can puncture the Oreo WITHOUT FORCE. If this does not happen with ten minutes, stop the timer and record a “10:00*” in the data table below.
5. Move onto the next liquid and repeat all steps. Make sure to throw away used cups, wipe up
any messes, and clean out your beaker!
Data Table/Observations
| Liquid | Dissolving Rate (minutes and seconds) | Oreo Observations What did you notice? |
| Milk | ||
| Orange Juice | ||
| Water |
Conclusion
Write your group’s conclusion below. What were your findings? Was the experiment able to support your hypothesis? Why or why not? How would you rewrite your hypothesis?
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Follow-up Questions
1. What was the INDEPENDENT VARIABLE in this experiment?
2. What was the DEPENDENT VARIABLE?
3. List three controls in the experiment.
4. There were several things that should have been written more specifically for this experiment. Reread the experiment with your group members and answer the following questions below for discussion.
- What could have been more clear in the experiment?
- What didn’t you understand?
- Which directions should be written differently?
- Was there anything missing that made it difficult to do this lab?
- How could the data/observation table been changed?
- Should we have done the experiment more than one time for each liquid? Why or why not?
