Science Fair 2016

It is Science Fair time... again. I love and dread this time of year. I love it because Christian loves doing Science projects and really excels at them. I dread it because it is oh so much work! In my opinion, the hardest thing about the whole project is coming up with a good idea. Christian, Jonathon, and I brainstormed for days... weeks even. We came up with several ideas, but none of them really panned out. We even started on a project having to do with static electricity, but we found it impossible to accurately measure.

So, finally, one week before the Science Fair, we decided to just choose one and go for it. His question was, "What is the best water temperature and sugar concentration for optimal yeast growth."  One of the nice things about Christian's science projects is that he always answers questions that I have. I have always heard that when you make bread, you can't get the water too hot or you will kill the yeast. I was curious if this was true, and if so, what was the best temperature. Christian and Jonathon decided that they also wanted to test sugar concentration to see if adding more sugar to the yeast would help it grow better.

They tested 4 water temperatures (90, 110, 130, and 150 degrees). They also tested each temperature with 0 sugar, 1 tsp, 2tsp, and 3 tsp of sugar. Then, they measured the height that the yeast grew in jars every 2 minutes for a total of 30 minutes. Here are pictures of the results at 30 minutes. You can tell that some of them grew a lot better than others. The jars on the far left had 0 sugar, followed by 1, 2, and 3 teaspoons on the right.

90 degrees/ 30 minutes

110 degrees/ 30 minutes

130 degrees/ 30 minutes

150 degrees/ 30 minutes 

The results were actually very interesting. The yeast didn't grow at all when no sugar was added, so that was a very important thing to learn. The other concentrations weren't really all that different from each other, so sugar was not really a determining factor as long as "some" was added. Water temperature on the other hand, made a HUGE difference. The yeast in the 90 and 110 degree water grew very slowly at first, but eventually got going. The 130 and 150 degree water grew much faster and better. 150 degrees is hotter than the hottest tap water we could get, and the yeast did not die, but actually thrived.

So, what is the application for his results? Next time you make bread, pizza dough, or cinnamon rolls, get the hottest tap water you can possibly get and make sure you add some sugar to feed the yeast. That will be the perfect environment for some awesome yeast growth. We even made a big batch of cinnamon rolls using the hottest water that we could to display for the judges. Then we finished up by creating the display board. Christian helped a lot with the poster this year. It was nice having him do so much more because he is older now. He practiced a few times and then headed off to the Science Fair.


The school was in desperate need of extra judges, so Jonathon was able to take off work a little bit early to go help judge the projects. He, obviously, didn't judge Christian's project, but what a great dad he is to help out. When it was time for awards, we were worried about how Christian would react if he didn't win. After 3 First places in a row, he hadn't really faced disappointment yet. When he found out that he did not win, but got 3rd place, he handled it so well. He was actually very happy with the results, and was nothing but positive with how everything went. Go Christian! I was so proud of him and all his hard work. 3rd Place is pretty awesome!