Yeast Science Fair Experiments

Yeast science fair experiments are more fun than they sound. Yeast is a great test subject for your science fair projects and science class projects because it is cheap, easy to find and relatively safe to work with. If you are interested in a yeast science project then you first need to conduct a little background research on yeast, cultures and microbiology issues in the news. This background research will help you to develop a science project that will blow the judges away at your local science fair.

If you don't know exactly how to start looking for a topic for your yeast experiment or project, then try completing simple yeast experiments that have already been developed. You can find instructions for these experiments online or you can buy a science fair kit that explores the properties of yeast. Below is one example of a yeast experiment that you can complete to learn more about what yeast is and how it reacts to other ingredients.

Objective

In this project you will measure the fermentation activity of yeast in different conditions.

Introduction

Yeasts are micro-organisms that are more closely related to a mushroom (they are a single-celled fungi) than to bacteria. Fungi are not green, do not have chlorophyll, and cannot undergo photosynthesis to make their own food. Instead, yeast must get their food from their surrounding environment. Yeasts use sugars (simple carbohydrates) and starches (complex carbohydrates) as food sources.

Yeasts break down these sugar molecules to make energy and release carbon dioxide gas (CO2) as a result. The carbon dioxide gas is what makes a slice of bread so soft and spongy. The pockets of gas are produced by yeast when the dough is allowed to rise before baking. This is the process of fermentation. Fermentation is also used to make beer, wine, and champagne.

In this experiment you will grow yeast in different conditions to see which conditions will cause the yeast to be most active during fermentation. You will use balloons to trap the CO2 gasses released by the yeast during fermentation. Then you will submerge the balloons under water and use water displacement to measure the amount of gas in each balloon. Which conditions will cause the formation of the most CO2 gas and the most active fermentation?

Now that you have a little experience working with yeast your next step is to come up with your own topic for your chemistry science fair projects. A great way to do this is to expand on the sample projects that you completed in the first step. For example, you can develop a hypothesis for your science fair project by exploring a new application for fermentation. You may want to see how different acids, bases or temperatures impact the fermentation process, or you may want to see what it takes to accomplish a specific outcome like stop the fermentation process in less than a minute, or activate the fermentation process within an hour.

The design of your yeast science fair experiments will take some time and some problem solving. If you used sample science fair projects to generate an idea, then you can go back to that experiment and see if it can be modified to test your hypothesis. For example, you may use the same basic concepts and set up used by the sample experiment and then change one or two components such as an ingredient. This is an easy way to develop a unique experiment. However, when working with chemistry projects you need to be careful what elements you mix together, especially when working with volatile elements.

The execution of your yeast science fair experiments needs to be done with care and it needs to be well documented. It is recommended that you keep a project journal that includes each step that you take in your experiment, your data, your observations and general notes about your topic. The information in your journal can then be used to write your report and to develop your science fair project display board.