Food Science at home
Learn how sensory scientists use all senses, and especially taste, to talk about whether people like or dislike food. This is a great way of learning food science and can help you start thinking about the scientific process as well as helping with Food Technology.
This activity will teach the following key skills:
This is suitable for all ages, and ties into the science curriculum at all ages, as you will learn how science is applied in everyday situations and in specific applications. You will also have the chance to plan your own experiments.
GCSE scientists will also be able to link this to their subject knowledge, but we explain the science for all ages
These videos and resources produced by the National Centre for Biotechnology Education. The NCBE is based on the University of Reading campus and provide scientific resources and practical kits to schools.
We support teachers and technicians in providing hands on practical activities to their students for microbiology and biology topics.
An Introduction to Sensory Science
Learn what Sensory Science is in this video. Learn about the 5 basic tastes and how we taste before having a go at your own sensory science test. Can you tell the difference between two similar products?
This pdf contains details about the video, including all the things you will need for the practical, and a glossary of the complicated terms.
Tasting Chocolate
Become a sensory scientist with this investigation into the various tastes of chocolate. This video gets you to blind taste 4 milk chocolate bars and score them according to various sensory attributes, before plotting your own attribute profiles.
This video is all about tasting milk chocolate! You will be scoring your chocolate samples against certain attribtutes using a line scale and then plotting attribute profiles.
Use this worksheet to carry out the practical activity and taste test chocolate samples
This pdf contains details about the video, including all the things you will need for the practical, and a glossary of the complicated terms.
The Science Behind Eating with Your Nose Held
Explore the difference between taste, flavour and aroma using Starburst or other chewy sweets. Eat the sweet with your nose held and try to guess the flavour!
This pdf contains details about the video, what you will need to the experiment, and a glossary of the complicated terms.