Cell Building Blocks: Testing Food for Fat

Gather a variety of food items (fruits, veggies, crackers, chips, cheese, bread, lunchmeat, condiments, etc.).

Spread open a brown paper bag on your work surface. Rub a small amount of each food item on the bag and label the spot with the type of food. After you have completed all of the food items, look for transparent spots – this is evidence of fat. Beware of spots that are just wet – they will dry out, transparent spots due to fat will not. You may want to rub a small amount of oil (a known fat) onto brown paper bag as a source for comparison.


Have students record data and look for patterns in the items that contain fat and those that don’t (think plants vs. animals).