Food Science

Amaze your tot with a fun and exciting science experiment using a simple egg. She'll love observing the changes the egg goes through during this scientific exploration and learn more about basic concepts such as liquids and solids. Even though this incredible bouncing egg won't stand up to hours of play, it's worth it to see your tot's face checking out the springy egg with this really cool science activity.

Keep reading for the exciting directions.

I recently took home a large batch of prepared guacamole from a party, hoping to make good use of it at home during my next taco night. But I opened the package for a quick bite, and within hours, the entire container of gaucamole had turned a dirty brown. What gives?

Guacamole is made from avocados, which are difficult to preserve fresh (or process effectively) due to their tendency to change color.

Avocados contain an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase, which, when exposed to oxygen, changes the chemical structure of avocado flesh, increasing the presence of melanins (yes, the same pigments that provide color in human skin).

Another discoloration you might encounter when cutting open avocados are occasional brown or black lines within the fruit's flesh. Those are nothing to worry about; they're found in fruit from young avocado trees, but are perfectly safe for consumption.

Do you hesitate to eat avocados once they've begun to oxidize? What measures do you take to prevent them from discoloring?

Source: Flickr User QuinnDombrowski

Even the most cooking challenged would agree: you'd be hard-pressed to mess up popcorn, a TV dinner, or soup in the microwave. But stick a sheet of foil in on accident, and it's a recipe for disaster — just ask my 8-year-old self! So why does the microwave take poorly to metal?

Microwave oven transmitters produce electromagnetic radiation ("microwaves") that disturbs electrons (the negatively-charged bits inside atoms), creating kinetic energy and thereby producing heat. That's how materials that receive radiation, like food and water molecules, become heated. The game changes with certain metals, however, which can be so dense that molecules, when agitated, have nowhere to go. The electrically conductive metals bounce off microwaves, rapidly creating a high voltage between the metal and the radiation source. Once the voltage strength surpasses a certain threshold, a spark is produced and can lead to a fire.

Have you ever unknowingly put metal in your microwave? If so, tell us what happened.

Earlier today I watched an interesting clip on Good Morning America about how a food's color affects perception of taste. In the video, children and adults are given the same flavor of jello and chocolate pudding, but it's been dyed several different colors. Both the tots and grown-ups assume each color is a different flavor.

Most food is artificially colored in some way and at the end of the segment they point out that showing the natural color of certain junk foods, like Cheetos, might get more people to stop eating them. Cheetos are naturally gray and they're given a bright orange artificial color. Would you eat them, and other junk foods, in their natural state? How do you feel about artificially colored foods?

Source: Flickr User jeffeaton