Yeast Fermentation Lab: Bread Dough Challenge

Background:
Read about the history of bread on History.com: https://www.history.com/news/a-brief-history-of-bread
Read about yeast from the Encyclopedia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/science/yeast-fungus
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has tasked the JCHS Biology Department with helping to solve a problem of theirs.
They have the difficult task of creating huge batches of bread dough in mass manufacturing to supply all of the nations’
grocery stores with bread selections each week. The U.S. DoA wants your help in determining what could make this
process faster so that it is more time efficient, cheaper and better for the consumer. In this lab, you will explore how
bread is made using the process of fermentation from yeast.
Pre-Lab Questions Part 1:
1. What kind of respiration do yeast use? Yeast uses Cellular Respiration What is the equation for it and were in
the cell does it occur? The formula for cellular respiration is C6H1206 +602 ------------------- 6c02 + 6H20 +ATP.
It occurs in the mitochondria as well.
2. What is the purpose of yeast in bread? Yeast makes the bread rise when it is baked. What would occur if you
forgot to put the yeast in bread? If you forgot to put yeast in your bread, you get a mushy slab of mess, rather
than a strong thick loaf of bread.
3. Where is yeast found? They are commonly on plant leaves, flowers, and fruits, as well as in soil. How long has it
been used in bread? It has been used on bread for over 5,000 years.
4. What is found in flour that would be necessary for yeast growth? Flour, yeast, liquid and salt mixed into dough
that rises and bakes in a hot oven. ... The gas is formed when enzymes from the yeast transform the glucose in the
sugar into carbon dioxide, which bubbles up through the mixture causing the dough to rise! Does all bread require
more than flour for yeast food? Yes, you need items such as water and flour to make the bread have its taste,
structure and chemical composition.

Part 1: Yeast Noms

Materials:
 Ziploc bags (2)  Measuring spoon
 Beaker  Warm Water
 Sugar  Plastic Spoon
Procedure:
1. Label one of your ziploc bags “W” for water and one “S” for sugar using a permanent marker.
2. Measure 100 mL warm water into your beaker and pour it into the snack bag labeled “W.”
a. You may need to use either the hot plate, microwave or warm water bath to heat this up.
3. Measure another 100 mL warm water into your beaker and add 1 tablespoon of sugar. Stir with the plastic
spoon to dissolve. Pour this sugar water into the snack bag labeled “S.”
4. Measure and add 1 tablespoon of yeast to each bag.
5. Close both bags and carefully mix the contents by smooshing the bag. Be careful not to pop it!
6. Open up both bags and carefully push out the air. Reseal the bags.
7. Observe what happens to your bags over 20 minutes. Record your observations.
8. Once 20 minutes have passed, record your results. Then, carefully clean out your bags. Contents can go down
the sink with an ABUNDANCE of water to wash it down. Otherwise it is going to smell in here for a long time.
Really. LOTS of water. Also make sure you wash out the bags for the next class.
Observations:

Modified from National Agriculture in the Classroom

 Solution Type 0 minutes 10 minutes 20 minutes
No difference, Brown
Forming of a white
Water + yeast solution and smells like Very little gas formation
mixture. Lighter tan color
oatmeal

No difference. Brown There is gas that is

Not much gas formation in
Water + Sugar+ yeast solution also smells like forming, and it has foam.
the bag as well
oatmeal Lighter tan color
Results:
1. What conclusions can be drawn from your mini-experiment? You should have more than one.
2. What is the gas being produced by the yeast?
3. What could you use to speed up or slow down this reaction? Be specific and name multiple things!
Pre-Lab Questions Part 2:
1. What variables can impact yeast growth? The heat of the area and the bags placement. We think that having
more heat will let the yeast rise and if the bag is straight and not folded it will also +. Really try to think of
anything and everything that could impact. Put a + or – to show whether it will have a positive or negative
impact on yeast respiration.
2. As a group and as a class, determine what variable(s) each lab group is going to test. Write down each lab group
and what they will test here. Remember to include a control!

Our group: Temperature of the bag in the fridge.

Spencer’s Group: Temperature of the bag in the incubator

Eshaan’s Group: Temperature of the bag in the classroom

Tejas’s Group: PH 7

Write a hypothesis for your variable. Then predict which of the class’ variables will cause the most dough growth.

Part 2: Bread Challenge

Materials:
 Beaker  Mixing bowl
 Warm Water  Mixing spoon
 Yeast  Measuring spoon
 Flour  Any materials needed for variable

Original dough recipe: ½ cup all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons water, 110 °F ¼ teaspoon yeast

Procedure:
1. In a bowl, mix together the yeast and flour.
2. Slowly add the water and stir to combine.
3. Using your hands, mix in any remaining flour in the bowl.
4. Knead dough for 1 minute.
5. Roll dough into a ball and allow it to rise for 30 minutes.
6. Observe your bread dough every 5 minutes for 30 minutes. Record your observations and collect your peers’.

Modified from National Agriculture in the Classroom

 Group/Variable 0 min 5 min 10 min 15 min 20 min 25 min 30 min
Our group – No change Bread still Started to Bread Cracks Bread Bread looks
Temper – dou ri star star star like
ature in Still ghy, s ting ting ting its
the like how e to to to gettin
fridge do ever v har bet har g
ug brea er den big den dens
h d y mo ger, . er
start lit re as Bre and
ed tl and the ad heavi
to e. the bre see er.
hard re ad ms Still
en see slig thic harde
ms htly ker ning
to rise
be s
cra
cks
star
ting
Spencer’s
Group –
Temperature in
the incubator
Eshaan’s Group
– Temperature
in the
classroom
Tejas’s Group –
PH level of the
bread
Jeffery’s group Lump of Extra dry No No change Little bit No change No change
Add 2 tbps of dryish flour lump change darker
sugar to the
bread

Results:

Draw a graph that best represents the data collected in Part 2.

Conclusion:

1. What variable caused the most fermentation in the yeast? The variable that caused the most fermentation in
the yeast is temperature, because we kept it in such a cold environment, with little heat. The bread had
somewhat turned into a white scone after it was baked. Explain how this can be true by referring to the
fermentation equation from your pre-lab. This is true, because in the equation, it specifically states that we need
sunlight in the equation, but we literally had none of it as it was in a fridge excluded from everything. When the
bread was put into the oven, it must have not cooked as much, because after taking it out of our wrapper it was
like a scone.

Modified from National Agriculture in the Classroom

 2. How would you modify the original recipe to increase the rate of respiration in bread? To increase the rate of
respiration, we should first not put the bread into the fridge, and ask the people who were baking it to heat it
for longer, as they must have not known the state of our bread and where it came from.

Part 3: Super-Duper Bread Challenge

We are going to bake each of our loaves of bread and see which group is able to create the largest air pocket inside their
bread. 5 points will go to the best bread pocket in each class. We had very small holes, with no air inside at all.

Modified from National Agriculture in the Classroom