Group Project Proposal is due on Term 1 Week 9 (4 March)
1. Choice of topic
The focus in our topic is to investigate and find out the best food preservation method that can help to retain the most nutrients in food.
The areas to be covered are the procedures to the different food preservation methods,
2. We chose this topic due to several reasons. Firstly, the topic is relevant to a problem prevalent throughout the world – world hunger and nutrition. As of now, most foods take quite long to travel to the target designated for relief. During the long transportation process, it is very likely that some of the food may perish. This problem continues to be a pain in the neck to most people when faced with food relief. Also, if we can find a way to preserve food longer while maintaining the nutrients, households will also be able to keep food for longer without worrying too much about having to consume the food before it expires. This will mean less food wastage, which means that food prices will also be decreased.
3. Feasibility of the project
The project is mainly based on food preservation. Because the topic does not require unreasonably advanced and unattainable equipment (say, a nuclear reactor or particle collider), it is quite feasible.
We will first try to carry out an interview with a food specialist or a nutritionist, to find out their views, before carrying on with the experiments based on different food preservation techniques.
We will be mainly concentrating on 5-6 key methods of preservation:
Freezing
Freezing, accompanied with packaging of food in salt
Freezing, accompanied with packaging of food with solid carbon dioxide
Freezing, after passing a strong electric current through the food
Freezing, after strong exposure to intense (possibly UV) light
Freezing, after applying high pressure to food to allow for reverse osmosis (this will have to be confirmed dependent on availability of technology.
No Preservation whatsoever (control)
We have to research on the benefits and feasibility of each food preservation method, and also the generation of ideas regarding which food we should use and why. This topic will benefit society as the society will understand the health impacts of each food preservation method.
4. The project will be handled first with a planning stage in March, where we plan our materials and methods. It will then be followed by preliminary testing in April to May, where we can find any mistakes and discrepancies in our experiment and fix them. After that, we will proceed to the final testing in June, then the consolidation stage in July where we will complete the written report. The project will require lots of group work to make sure all information from the different members do not contradict each other, and the amount of work must be spread out between the members or deadline may not be able to be met. We expect various difficulties especially when doing the actual testing, as the materials may require great preparation to ensure accurate results. To cope with this difficulty, we should prepare the materials at least 2 days beforehand to ensure it will be ready for the experiment.
5. Accessibility of information required
Nutritionists, the Web, Biology Books, possibly Cooking Books
The Library, the Web, and possibly in School and at Hospitals or Clinics
Science Teachers, More extensive research on other similar topics to yield certain clues
Lack of time, failure in communication and possibly lack of enough resources to work with.
6. Methods used to carry out the project
We will carry out experiments on samples of food using a list of common food preservation methods. For example, to test out the effectiveness of freezing, we will keep a sample of food frozen for 1 day in the laboratory, and we will measure the amount of Vitamin C, proteins, and fats left in each of the samples of food.
We will need to carry out secondary research on the various ways nutrients in food can be lost, and also what different kinds of nutrients are there in foods, not just the three main types of nutrients.
We can conduct our secondary research through researching the Web for information, through nutrition books from the National Library etc.
We will then compile our information from our secondary research and check with our primary research and ensure that our results from our research are consistent. We also need an expert's views on the different food preservation methods so that we can substantiate our findings from our experiments.
We will engage in experiments, as well as an interview with a food nutritionist as avenues of primary research.
Experiments
Control group: 50g of a food with no food preservation method applied
Experiment groups: Samples of 50g of food each for each food preservation method
Logistics needed:
Interviews
Resource persons: Nutritions
Expertise of resource persons: Our interviewee should have expertise in the field of nutrition, and thus would be able to provide relevant and accurate information regarding our topic.
Availability of resource persons: We think that an interviewee with expertise is readily available for our interview, as there are a number of nutrition clinics around Singapore.
We will analyse the data by measuring the amount of Vitamin C left in the food after 1 day in the laboratory, compare them and analyse which food preservation method is the most effective in retaining the most Vitamin C. Also, we will confirm our findings from our experiments with the information from our interview.
7. Most of the time, primary research will be the topmost priority for any member. Enthusiastic members can do secondary research if they want. Written reports are submitted by the group leader while logistics for oral presentations will be nominated by vote. Every week, a task is normally set for members to do. Members are expected to hand up the work by the next meeting, giving them about one week to do the task. The individual Evaluation of relevant print/non-print Material and Insights and Reflection should be completed by the end of Term 1.
8. Some problems include the difficulty of finding the right equipment for the experiment, and that due to its time-consuming nature; it can be hard to gather results quickly. Limes contain large amounts of Dietary Fiber,Vitamin C, calcium and Iron, which we could use to test for nutrients, positive ones being the ones in focus, they also contain copper and small amounts of cholesterol and sodium. I feel that we can start by testing out for Vitamin C, as it is most prominent in the lime fruit.
1. Choice of topic
2. We chose this topic due to several reasons. Firstly, the topic is relevant to a problem prevalent throughout the world – world hunger and nutrition. As of now, most foods take quite long to travel to the target designated for relief. During the long transportation process, it is very likely that some of the food may perish. This problem continues to be a pain in the neck to most people when faced with food relief. Also, if we can find a way to preserve food longer while maintaining the nutrients, households will also be able to keep food for longer without worrying too much about having to consume the food before it expires. This will mean less food wastage, which means that food prices will also be decreased.
3. Feasibility of the project
4. The project will be handled first with a planning stage in March, where we plan our materials and methods. It will then be followed by preliminary testing in April to May, where we can find any mistakes and discrepancies in our experiment and fix them. After that, we will proceed to the final testing in June, then the consolidation stage in July where we will complete the written report. The project will require lots of group work to make sure all information from the different members do not contradict each other, and the amount of work must be spread out between the members or deadline may not be able to be met. We expect various difficulties especially when doing the actual testing, as the materials may require great preparation to ensure accurate results. To cope with this difficulty, we should prepare the materials at least 2 days beforehand to ensure it will be ready for the experiment.
5. Accessibility of information required
6. Methods used to carry out the project
7. Most of the time, primary research will be the topmost priority for any member. Enthusiastic members can do secondary research if they want. Written reports are submitted by the group leader while logistics for oral presentations will be nominated by vote. Every week, a task is normally set for members to do. Members are expected to hand up the work by the next meeting, giving them about one week to do the task. The individual Evaluation of relevant print/non-print Material and Insights and Reflection should be completed by the end of Term 1.
8. Some problems include the difficulty of finding the right equipment for the experiment, and that due to its time-consuming nature; it can be hard to gather results quickly.
Limes contain large amounts of Dietary Fiber,Vitamin C, calcium and Iron, which we could use to test for nutrients, positive ones being the ones in focus, they also contain copper and small amounts of cholesterol and sodium. I feel that we can start by testing out for Vitamin C, as it is most prominent in the lime fruit.