The Task
My group, James, Daniel, and I, was assigned the task to solve a world problem using biotechnology. There are thousands of problems in the world so we had a lot of options and freedom. We decided to choose world hunger as our problem and our solution was to develop a "superfood" that is cheap, light, and so highly nutritious that it can easily feed someone. We worked on this project for a couple of weeks and finished it efficiently.
The Slideshow
Our final product was a slideshow. We start off with a video to hook the audience. Then, we go into our problem. After, we go into our nutrition bar, its ingredients, and its nutrients. Lastly, we go into our plan and describe what we're going to do with the food. We plan to distribute it throughout the United States as a Soylent replacement, then distribute it globally to help feed starving foreign countries.
The Video
This is the video we placed at the beginning of the presentation. It is meant to hook the watchers and introduce our problem and solution. After, we showed our presentation.
The Recipe
2 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup nuts, roughly chopped (1/4 peanuts, 1/4 walnuts)1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups dried fruit (about 3/8 cups of dried oranges, 3/8 cups of dried pears)
Cook in a 9in x 9in pan
Preheat oven to about 350 degrees
Bake oats and nuts for 8-10 minutes
While baking, add honey, butter, and brown sugar to a small saucepan and mix it lightly over medium heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves
When its ready, pour vanilla extract and salt into butter mixture
Pour this mixture into the nuts and oats and mix
Place into pan and use spatula to press it down into the pan
Chill the bars for 2 hours
1/2 cup nuts, roughly chopped (1/4 peanuts, 1/4 walnuts)1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups dried fruit (about 3/8 cups of dried oranges, 3/8 cups of dried pears)
Cook in a 9in x 9in pan
Preheat oven to about 350 degrees
Bake oats and nuts for 8-10 minutes
While baking, add honey, butter, and brown sugar to a small saucepan and mix it lightly over medium heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves
When its ready, pour vanilla extract and salt into butter mixture
Pour this mixture into the nuts and oats and mix
Place into pan and use spatula to press it down into the pan
Chill the bars for 2 hours
Important Concepts
Carbohydrates - Carbohydrates provide the body with energy. They are made of sugars and allow us to function. Simple carbs provide short bursts of energy, while complex carbs provide longer-lasting energy. In our bar, the oats contain carbohydrates.
Proteins - Proteins help repair damage to our tissue and can speed up chemical reactions. They are made of amino acids held together by peptide bonds. Proteins are found in the walnuts and peanuts of our granola bar.
Lipids (Fats) - Lipids make up the cell membrane of our cells and provide structure. They also help provide insulation and are used for long-term energy storage. In our bar, lipids are found in the peanuts and walnuts of the bar.
Nucleic Acids - Nucleic acids store and carry our genetic information. It comes from vitamins and minerals. They are found in pretty much anything with nutritional value. In our bar, nucleic acids are found in the dried fruit and oats.
Fiber - Fiber helps controls blood sugar levels. They are found in lentils and pears and are very important for the body. Our bar uses dried pears and oats, which both have fiber.
Vitamin A - This is a vitamin that is good for the eyes. It helps prevent eye disorders and is necessary for good vision. Vitamin A is found in butter and soy. Vitamin A comes from our soy milk.
B Vitamins - B Vitamins have a huge variety of functions because there's so many. Some treat the digestive system. Generally, all the B vitamins come from the soy milk and oats.
Vitamin C - Vitamin C prevents scurvy and provides energy. Vitamin C comes from oranges. In fact, this vitamin is the main reason why we incorporated oranges into our nutrition bar.
Vitamin E - Vitamin E is an antioxidant that helps protect our bodies from damage. It is an important vitamin. Vitamin E is found in the oats of our nutrition bar.
Vitamin K - This vitamin improves bone metabolism and blood clotting. It also helps regulates blood calcium levels. Vitamin K is found in the soy milk and dried pears.
Iron - Iron is a very important component of hemoglobin in the red blood cells. Hemoglobin represents about 2/3 of the body's iron. Iron is found in the dried oranges and pears of our nutrition bar.
Potassium - Potassium is closely related to electrolytes. It helps regulate fluid balance, muscle contractions, and nerve signals. Potassium is found in bananas and soy milk. Because we're using soy milk, that's how people will get their potassium.
Calcium - Calcium is necessary for bone structure, growth, and health. Calcium is found in milk and soy milk. Our soy milk gives people their necessary calcium.
Sodium - Sodium helps in maintaining homeostasis and keeping fluids at a normal balance. Salt is pretty much all sodium. We're using salt in our nutrition bar as a way to give our nutrition bar sodium.
Proteins - Proteins help repair damage to our tissue and can speed up chemical reactions. They are made of amino acids held together by peptide bonds. Proteins are found in the walnuts and peanuts of our granola bar.
Lipids (Fats) - Lipids make up the cell membrane of our cells and provide structure. They also help provide insulation and are used for long-term energy storage. In our bar, lipids are found in the peanuts and walnuts of the bar.
Nucleic Acids - Nucleic acids store and carry our genetic information. It comes from vitamins and minerals. They are found in pretty much anything with nutritional value. In our bar, nucleic acids are found in the dried fruit and oats.
Fiber - Fiber helps controls blood sugar levels. They are found in lentils and pears and are very important for the body. Our bar uses dried pears and oats, which both have fiber.
Vitamin A - This is a vitamin that is good for the eyes. It helps prevent eye disorders and is necessary for good vision. Vitamin A is found in butter and soy. Vitamin A comes from our soy milk.
B Vitamins - B Vitamins have a huge variety of functions because there's so many. Some treat the digestive system. Generally, all the B vitamins come from the soy milk and oats.
Vitamin C - Vitamin C prevents scurvy and provides energy. Vitamin C comes from oranges. In fact, this vitamin is the main reason why we incorporated oranges into our nutrition bar.
Vitamin E - Vitamin E is an antioxidant that helps protect our bodies from damage. It is an important vitamin. Vitamin E is found in the oats of our nutrition bar.
Vitamin K - This vitamin improves bone metabolism and blood clotting. It also helps regulates blood calcium levels. Vitamin K is found in the soy milk and dried pears.
Iron - Iron is a very important component of hemoglobin in the red blood cells. Hemoglobin represents about 2/3 of the body's iron. Iron is found in the dried oranges and pears of our nutrition bar.
Potassium - Potassium is closely related to electrolytes. It helps regulate fluid balance, muscle contractions, and nerve signals. Potassium is found in bananas and soy milk. Because we're using soy milk, that's how people will get their potassium.
Calcium - Calcium is necessary for bone structure, growth, and health. Calcium is found in milk and soy milk. Our soy milk gives people their necessary calcium.
Sodium - Sodium helps in maintaining homeostasis and keeping fluids at a normal balance. Salt is pretty much all sodium. We're using salt in our nutrition bar as a way to give our nutrition bar sodium.
Reflection
Overall, I had a blast doing this project. This was a very fun final project and a great way to end off my STEM Biology career. The work I did not only educated me about nutrition, but also about foreign aid, patents, and baking. I had a lot of strengths and weaknesses. Two of my strengths were calculating the cost and planning the foreign aid. I spent a lot of time calculating how much each ingredient cost and how much each bar would cost based on those ingredients (it's $2). This was an important statistic I had to find. Another strength I had was planning out what we would do with the food. I figured out how to patent the product, how to get product on grocery store shelves, and what places we should distribute the food to. The plan is a critical part of our project and I feel very proud of the plan.
Although I had strengths, I definitely had weaknesses. Some of my weaknesses were struggling with the video and the lack of nutrient information. The video went through multiple phases and took a lot longer than it should have. The video turned out well, but my group was waiting until the last minute for it to be finished. Another weakness I had was the lack of nutrient information. The presentation only had the total calories for a bar. We had nothing about carbs, fat, protein, sodium, or vitamin contents. This is a very noticeable detail that is missing from the presentation that would've helped our cause. I didn't have time to finish it and that was my fault.
There were serious procrastination weaknesses I had, but I made up for it with the quality of the existing components of the slideshow. In conclusion, I had a great time in STEM Biology. I had ups and downs in the class, but I ended off with a good grade and a lot of satisfaction. I can't wait for STEM Chemistry and I am very excited for the future. I will forever remember this class, the material, the teacher, and the people. I hope next year is fun as well.
Although I had strengths, I definitely had weaknesses. Some of my weaknesses were struggling with the video and the lack of nutrient information. The video went through multiple phases and took a lot longer than it should have. The video turned out well, but my group was waiting until the last minute for it to be finished. Another weakness I had was the lack of nutrient information. The presentation only had the total calories for a bar. We had nothing about carbs, fat, protein, sodium, or vitamin contents. This is a very noticeable detail that is missing from the presentation that would've helped our cause. I didn't have time to finish it and that was my fault.
There were serious procrastination weaknesses I had, but I made up for it with the quality of the existing components of the slideshow. In conclusion, I had a great time in STEM Biology. I had ups and downs in the class, but I ended off with a good grade and a lot of satisfaction. I can't wait for STEM Chemistry and I am very excited for the future. I will forever remember this class, the material, the teacher, and the people. I hope next year is fun as well.