2013 Diet Study Results

This semester, the students recorded the nutritional data for 2 days of their regular diet, followed by 3 days of trying to improve their diet.  For the first time, students had to describe why their choices were considered healthier, using Michael Pollan's food rules as a guideline for making better choices.  In past the students have primarily used nutrition data for the basis of their study, however after showing that the nutritional data from a healthy meal can look very similar to a meal that is not healthy.  Students have done 3 studies using a physical rating, improving their awareness of how they physically feel throughout the day, in addition to recordinmg their blood pressure and heart rate.  The hardest part for most students is controlling the amount of sleep, water and exercise throughout the week. 

The following picture are the labels collected from one students food consumed for the entire week. 

The Iron Goddess Oolong Tea Study

Sixteen out of twenty three students in the Science 14 class at Centennial High school participated in a tea study, trying to answer the question if the tea would make them healthier.  The tea was prepared in class and a physical rating was done pre-tea and post tea (~20min). 

The following are statements from the students discussions.  There is no decrease for any person's physical rating.

There were only 10 zeros/65 students drinking the tea ~ 85% improvement

When sleep was higher, pre tea physical rating was lower

Pre tea went higher every day

If caffeine was drank with tea some students noticed no difference, if no caffeine was consumed  there was a positive difference.

Day 1 saw the greatest increase.

Averages were higher for those who had more sleep.

Caffeine and tea combinations had no effect.

SHOW ME THE GRAPHS: Part 2

Graph 1.0  The Forest Lawn High School Sc. 14 class average of students' average daily physical ratings while participating in a tea experiment.  The students predicted that after having a single cup of healthy tea (Puerh) for 4 days, proceeded by 2 days without, followed by one day with tea, that they would feel healthier.  The students recorded through out the day how they physically felt, including a pre/post tea rating (graph 1.1).

SHOW ME THE GRAPHS: Tea Study Results

(Graph 1.1) Series 1 is period 1 class, Series 2 is the period 2 class.  The post tea physical rating was taken by the students 20-30 min after drinking their one cup of tea.

SHOW ME THE GRAPHS: Interpreting The Data

Many of you asked me for an example of how to write a discussion. So here is one paragraph from the discussion that I am currently writing:

"In my prediction, I expected to find the fifth day of drinking tea (Day 7) showing a very high increase in physical rating on the basis that after experiencing the benefits of the tea for four days and then taking two days off, that the students would be even better at recognizing the benefits better. The results still show a generally higher physical rating on Day 1 to Day 4, with generally lower ratings on Days 5/6 when no tea was drank, followed by a slight increase on Day 7." (Cox, 2011).

Healthy Plants: Healthy nutrients: Healthy People

Students that have chosen to drink 1 cup of organic tea in class for a 5 day study. The students will measure on a scale of 1-10 how they physically feel at various times during the day from Tuesday to Friday, and then record two days on the weekend without the tea and then 1 day returning on Monday. Students will keep their regular diet the same, and will record throughout the day all other sources of caffeine, including coffee, teas, energy drinks, chocolate, & soda pop.

A special thanks to Jonathan from the 'Naked Leaf' tea shop in Kensignton whom visited our school today sharing his breadth of knowledge about the science of tea and has provided for us an Organic Pu-erh Tea with vanilla and mint for our study.

Stay tuned for our results.

Beans, beans, beans........Worms, worms, worms, ...........

All of the beans that have germinated are in new pots from their germination well. Watering continues every day, all regular soil plants are continuing to receive tap water, and the organic soil is still being watered with distilled water.

A new home was built for all of the worms and given a lot of organic produce scraps mixed organic with white birch leaves, and pumpkin cubes hand diced with seasonal geometric precision. In just a few weeks the worms will have made fertilizer for our plants that continued to be cared for with a gratefulness for the cycle of life. As we are made from the elements broken down by decomposers(worm poop), that make molecules that are absorbed by plants that make healthy cells, that are eaten by humans, so that we can obtain all of the essential nutrients in order to make healthy cells in our body.

PHOTO: Students removing the fertilizer from the red worm compost.