By: Brendon K. & Justin P.
Year: 2021
School: Vista Verde, 7th Grade
Division: Junior
How does plastic wrap, aluminum foil, and paper towel covers affect the spread of oxidation in centimeters from open avocados over 5 days?
We got the idea of experimenting with the oxidation of avocados by thinking of a question that was thought of and scene in everyday life. We also wanted it to be something that involves a chemical reaction.
After coming up with the idea, we wanted to not just test one cover, but multiple covers to see which one would prevent oxidation the best. For the controlled variable, we just added a section without any cover to compare it to the avocados that were in a covering.
When getting the avocados, we wanted them to be the same relative size and firmness. This reduced the variability of some avocados oxidizing differently because of age, ripeness, or firmness. When we had all our avocados, we did our trials, all at the same time and in the same room to limit the variability of different humidity levels and temperatures in the room. To measure the surface area of the oxidation, we measured in centimeters the largest stretch of oxidation every day from an initial starting point, over the course of 5 straight days.