Sugary Drink Experiment

Step #1

Choose three different drinks that you will “test”, sugar cubes (or granulated cane sugar if you don’t have sugar cubes), three cups, and a teaspoon. Different types of soft drinks will likely yield the most interesting results but you can do this with any drink!

Step #2

Make a prediction and create your hypothesis! What kind of drinks contain sugar? How much sugar do you think is in a serving of a soda? What kind of drink do you think has the most and least amount of sugar?

Step #3

With the help of a parent or guardian, look at the serving size on the nutrition label and pour that serving amount into one of your cups. Repeat this process for each of the three drinks that you chose.

Step #4

Look at the nutrition label for the total mass of sugar found in the soda. Using your sugar cubes or teaspoons of sugar, measure out the same mass of sugar as found in your drink. A single sugar cube and a teaspoon of sugar each weigh 4 grams.

Step #5

Analyze your findings. Which drink had the most sugar? Did this match your hypothesis? How much sugar is in a whole container of your drink? Based on the amount of sugar you found to be in these drinks, would you categorize these drinks as healthy or unhealthy? How many sugary drinks do you have in a day?