Inv. 9 Energy In Food (Virtual Lab)
Name: _________________________________
Competency
Evaluation
0.6 – Written Report
1.1 – Energy Trans & Heat
1.2 – Energy conservation
2.1 – Photosynthesis
2.2 - Respiration
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Go to classzone.com
Click on state Pa, Biology, high school science, go.
Select the book that has a lizard on the front by McDougall Littell.
Click on virtual labs under the Lab heading
Click on Calorimetry (this will start your lab)
Listen to the problem (this will help you write your introduction), you may want to jot down
notes about what is said in the problem.
7. Click on Explore after you read the problem. You will have to follow the directions before you
can move on. You actually have to click on all the lab equipment to learn what it is before the
program will allow you to move on. Please record the names of the instruments so that you can
write your materials and procedures for the lab. You may want to record what happens in each
step so that you can write procedures later.
8. Click on Procedures and listen to the directions so that you can complete the lab. Please ask for
help if you do not understand what the directions are telling you.
9. You will have to open up the virtual lab notebook to make predictions, record data, perform
calculations, and answer analysis questions. Please be sure to PRINT this when you are finished
the lab.
10. Use the rubric below to help you put together your lab report when you finish the virtual part.
Predictions
List the five food samples you've selected in order from fewest to greatest number of Calories per gram.
1
(fewest number of Calories per gram)
2
3
4
5
(greatest number of Calories per gram)
Table 1. Data Collection for Food Samples
Food
Sample
Initial
Mass
Food
Sample
with
Crucible
(g)
Final
Mass
Food
Sample
with
Crucible
(g)
Change
in Mass
(g)
Initial
Water
Temp
(˚C)
Final
Water
Temp
(˚C)
Change in
Water
Temp
(˚C)
Table 2. Energy Given Off by Food Samples (Cal/g)
To calculate the number of Calories released by each food sample, enter the necessary value into the
following formula. Scroll down to get "Change in Water Temp" data from your experiment.
1 . To calculate the number of Calories released by the food sample, use the following formula:
Calories in Food Sample =
1Calorie  1kg 
(600 g)(Change in Water Temp ˚C) 


 kgÞC 1000g 
1Calorie  1kg 
Calories in Food Sample = (600g)
˚C 


 kgÞC 1000g 

  1kg 
Calories in Food Sample =
g Cal/kg 

1000g 
Calories in Food Sample =
Calories



2. The last calculation is important so that you are comparing
foods gram per gram. To calculate the Calories per
gram (Cal/g) use the following formula:
Calories per Gram (Cal/g) = Calories in Food Sample (Cal) / Change in the Mass of the sample (g)
Calories per Gram (Cal/g) =
Food Sample
Cal /
Change in
mass (g)
g =
Cal/g
Change in
Water Temp
(˚C)
Calories in
Food Sample
(Cal)
Calories per
gram (Cal/g)
1. Analyze Rank your foods according to your results. Based on the energy in 19 of sample, were
your predictions correct? What might have accounted for any differences between your
predictions and the actual values?
PREDICTIONS
1
(fewest number of Calories per gram)
2
3
4
5
(greatest number of Calories per gram)
RESULT
1
(fewest number of Calories per gram)
2
3
4
5
(greatest number of Calories per gram)
2. Evaluate: [0.6]How might multiple trials improve the accuracy of your results?
3. Apply: [0.6, 2.2]How can this information be used to help plan a healthful diet?
4. Evaluate: [0.6] What are some other pieces of information about food that this experiment did not
provide? What else do you need to know to make healthful decisions about your diet?
5. Compare and Contrast: [1.1 & 1.2]What is the relationship between the release of energy in the
form of heat and Calories?
Additional Questions:
1. [0.6]Compare your five predictions to your results in the lab, what were you right about, what
were you wrong about?
2. [1.1]Do all foods provide the same amount of energy? Use data from the lab to answer this
question.
3. [1.2]Apply the Law of Conservation of Energy to this lab. Trace the energy from its beginning
point, to the point where it was stored or used.
4. [2.2]Apply the concept of RESPIRATION to this lab. What happens inside of a human being
when he/she eats the various foods analyzed in the lab?
5. [2.1] Where does food get its energy? Take any two pieces of food that you used in the lab and
trace the source of its energy as far back as you can.
Conclusion: [0.6, 1.1, 2.1, 2.2]In your conclusion you should re-state the hypothesis questions and
answer them now that you have completed the lab. Please use data from the lab to support your
answers. Please discuss the main concepts of calorimetry and what it is used for. Discuss how we
obtained energy in this lab. Where did the energy come from and what happens when you eat the
food products. Discuss how we used heat to release the energy in food and what those results told
us.