What are we doing?
We will be taking hollowed eggs, to play the role as our teeth, and leave them in a container of our test liquids. Everyday we will fish these eggs out and keep track of their progress in terms of staining.
Variables
Controlled variables: The hollowed eggs, the time the eggs stay in the containers
Manipulated variables: The drinks in each container
Manipulated variables: The drinks in each container
Materials
* 4-5 eggs
*4 medium sized containers
*2 liter Coca-Cola
*2 liter Pepsi
*Ground Coffee Mix
*Bag of green tea
*Sewing needle
*Small bowl
*Measuring Cup
*Science Journal
*4 medium sized containers
*2 liter Coca-Cola
*2 liter Pepsi
*Ground Coffee Mix
*Bag of green tea
*Sewing needle
*Small bowl
*Measuring Cup
*Science Journal
Steps To Start
1. Hollow out your "teeth" (eggs) using these instructions. 6
2. Make a pot of coffee and a normal sized mug of tea.
3. Put your coffee and tea in the refrigerator so they can cool enough to put in plastic containers.
4. While coffee and tea are cooling, pour 2 cups of Pepsi into one plastic container, and 2 cups of Coca-Cola into another. Leave until coffee and tea are at least room temperature or warm.
5. Pour 2 cups of Coffee into one plastic container, and 2 cups of tea into the last container leaving the tea bag inside the container.
6. Place your hollowed eggs into the drinks. Make sure it is soaked all over with the liquids.
7. Place all 4 containers into the refrigerator over night so they will be around the same temperature as they stain.
2. Make a pot of coffee and a normal sized mug of tea.
3. Put your coffee and tea in the refrigerator so they can cool enough to put in plastic containers.
4. While coffee and tea are cooling, pour 2 cups of Pepsi into one plastic container, and 2 cups of Coca-Cola into another. Leave until coffee and tea are at least room temperature or warm.
5. Pour 2 cups of Coffee into one plastic container, and 2 cups of tea into the last container leaving the tea bag inside the container.
6. Place your hollowed eggs into the drinks. Make sure it is soaked all over with the liquids.
7. Place all 4 containers into the refrigerator over night so they will be around the same temperature as they stain.
Staining : Coffee
Staining: Tea
Staining: Pepsi
Staining: Coke
Day 5
Day 5 is the day to take out all your eggs and place them side by side. After 2 hours of them sitting on a paper towel, determine which egg is stained the worst and which is stained the least.
The Results
1st place: Coffee
2nd place: Pepsi
3rd place: Coca-Cola
4th place: Tea
2nd place: Pepsi
3rd place: Coca-Cola
4th place: Tea
My Hypothesis
Instead of one of the sodas being the worst to stain the teeth, Coffee caused the worst discoloration.
Conclusion
For my science project, I
decided to investigate the question, “Which of your favorite drinks
stains your teeth the worst?”. My research came strictly from the
internet and my background knowledge of teeth staining and sugary
drinks. As I was doing my research I found many articles that had the
same story to tell. Sugary or dark drinks have particles, that if not
brushed off of your teeth, can slowly lead to tooth discoloration.
Tooth discoloration, is when your teeth stray from their white tent and turn to yellow tents. Soda's sugars, coffee's dark tent, teas pigments can all cause this. After learning more about this, I came to the conclusion that because of Soda's harsh chemicals and large amounts of sugar, it will stain the teeth more then the other drinks. This conclusion soon became my testable hypothesis.
I decided to test this by using hollowed eggs as teeth and soaking them in coffee, tea, Coke, and Pepsi for 5 days. I would fish them out and observe their progress everyday. I could only do this for 5 days because soon the containers would start to grow mold from the moisture. The first day of bathing in the various drinks was when I saw the most change in the egg's tent. For the next four days there was only a very slight change in it's discoloration.
After completing my project I found that my hypothesis was wrong. Instead of Soda causing the most discoloration to the teeth, it was Coffee that gave the most discoloration. This left Pepsi and Coca-Cola to take 2nd and 3rd place. This also kicked Tea to last place. But, although my hypothesis was wrong in stating that Soda would cause the most discoloration to the teeth, this discovery did answer my scientific question as to which would stain the teeth the worst.
Tooth discoloration, is when your teeth stray from their white tent and turn to yellow tents. Soda's sugars, coffee's dark tent, teas pigments can all cause this. After learning more about this, I came to the conclusion that because of Soda's harsh chemicals and large amounts of sugar, it will stain the teeth more then the other drinks. This conclusion soon became my testable hypothesis.
I decided to test this by using hollowed eggs as teeth and soaking them in coffee, tea, Coke, and Pepsi for 5 days. I would fish them out and observe their progress everyday. I could only do this for 5 days because soon the containers would start to grow mold from the moisture. The first day of bathing in the various drinks was when I saw the most change in the egg's tent. For the next four days there was only a very slight change in it's discoloration.
After completing my project I found that my hypothesis was wrong. Instead of Soda causing the most discoloration to the teeth, it was Coffee that gave the most discoloration. This left Pepsi and Coca-Cola to take 2nd and 3rd place. This also kicked Tea to last place. But, although my hypothesis was wrong in stating that Soda would cause the most discoloration to the teeth, this discovery did answer my scientific question as to which would stain the teeth the worst.