3rd Period Science Project
Problem Statement/Big Question: Does it take more licks for a child to reach the center of a Tootsie Pop then it does an adult?
Background Information:
Title of webpage: How Tootsie Pops are Made
Title of Article: How Tootsie Pops are Made (video)
Date: August 14, 2012
Title of webpage: Tootsie Roll Pop: How Many Licks?
Title of Article: Tootsie Roll Pop: How Many Licks?
Date: 2004-2009
Title of webpage: How Cast
Title of article: How to Make Lollipops
Date: March 11, 2009
Title of webpage: How Stuff Works
Title of article: How Your Tongue Works
Date: 1998-2013
· The tongue helps to digest food.
· The tongue helps to taste food
· The tongue can be different lengths
Title of the webpage: All Science Fair Projects
Title of the article: Tootsie Pop
Date: 9/27/2013
Hypothesis: If a child licks a Tootsie Pop it will take more licks to get to the center then it will for an adult to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop.
Big Question: How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?
Background Research/Abstract
Tootsie Pops are a favorite for many people young and old. Tootsie Pops were created in 1932 by Lukas R. "Luke" Weisgram. Tootsie Pops are made by boiling sugar and water to make the hard candy outside of the Tootsie Pop. The candy is then stretched around the Tootsie Roll center and allowed to harden. There are six flavors of Tootsie Pops they are Chocolate, Cherry, Orange, Grape and Raspberry. The sixth color alternates between banana and pomegranate.
Many experiments have been done to see how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop but no one knows for sure. It seems to take more licks for a young child to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop then it does for a teenager or adult. This is because a kid has a short tongue and little saliva an adult has a long tongue and more saliva. To make it easier the makers of Tootsie Pops have reduced the thickness of the outside to make getting to the center faster.
The factors that affect how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop include the size of the mouth and the amount of saliva in the mouth, and the length of the tongue. Some engineering students created a mechanical tongue. That tongue took more than 300 licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. A man recently took 850 licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop.
This experiment will compare the number of licks it takes for a child to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop with the number of licks it takes for an adult to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop.
The problem statement for this experiment was “Does it take more licks for a child to reach the center of a Tootsie Pop then it does an adult?”
The hypothesis was “If a child licks a Tootsie Pop it will take more licks to get to the center then it will for an adult to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop.” How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? The world may never know!
•Procedures. What was your approach for investigating the problem? Don't go into detail about materials unless they were critical to your success. Do describe the most important variables if you have room.
•Results. What answer did you obtain? Be specific and use numbers to describe your results. Do not use vague terms like "most" or "some."
•Conclusions. State what your science fair project or invention contributes to the area you worked in. Did you meet your objectives? For an engineering project state whether you met your design criteria.