Too sweet to be true? - A hands-on teaching unit about Synthetic Sweeteners

Abstract

Dealing with biological topics in school can be challenging for both teachers and students despite a direct connection to their daily lives and existing pre-knowledge. This applies to carbohydrates, which can be treated in biology with regard to health education, making it possible to combine the conveyance of knowledge with the practical example of sugars and sweeteners.

Carbohydrates are required for energy production by both animals and plants. Their general molecular construction, however, is similar. Sugars are also carbohydrates with the most important simple ones being Glucose and Fructose (monosaccharides). Due to their natural sweetness there are used in foods, but since obesity and diabetes have increased dramatically in the western countries, the discovery of synthetic sweeteners was a great success. When developing synthetic sweeteners, factors such as toxicity, stability and cost aside from taste have to be considered.

This article aims at giving necessary, yet simple background knowledge needed for holding a thorough lesson or even teaching unit on the topic of carbohydrates as exemplified by sugars. It is rounded off by suggestions how to conduct the teaching with concrete experiments, for each of which a worksheet is provided at the end.