Most of the flavoring in gum is due to the sugar or other sweetener it contains. As gum is chewed, the sugar dissolves and is swallowed. After a piece of gum loses its flavor, it can be left to dry at room temperature and then the difference between its initial (unchewed) mass and its chewed mass can be used to calculate the percentage of sugar in the gum. This demonstration experiment is used to generate new questions about gums and their ingredients, and middle schoolers can then design and execute new experiments based on their own questions.

Concepts

engineering, experimental design, sugar, variables, stem

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Additional Tags

bubble gum, integrated teaching and learning program and laboratory, teachengineering, hypothesis

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Classroom Considerations

• Knovation Readability Score: 5 (1 low difficulty, 5 high difficulty)