sugar in our body
TIME: 35 minutes
PURPOSE: Show how having a lot of sugar slows the movement of oxygen in our blood stream.
MATERIALS:
• 2- 20 oz. clear bottle
• 30 ounces of 100% fruit juice
• Small plastic beads
• Red food dye
• Corn Syrup
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Ask what participants know about natural sugar and added sugar and how it impacts our
bodies.
2. Split participants into groups of two or three (try to switch up the groups from the previous
exercise)
3. Pour a few drops of red food dye in a 20-ounce clear bottle full of 100 percent fruit juice. Add
a few plastic beads.
4. Explain that the beads represent red blood cells, which carry oxygen to our brain and we
need to live. Turn the bottle upside down and right-side up a few times, ask the teens to
notice how quickly the beads can move from one end of the bottle to the other.
5. Pass the bottle around so that the teens can try it themselves.
6. Explain that this is how quickly oxygen can reach different parts of our body, helping us to
think, breathe, and move. Shaking the bottle is what our heart does to pump the blood to
different parts of our body. This is what our veins look like with the right amount of natural
sugar. You may have to explain what a vein is depending on the level of science knowledge
in the room.
7. Take another identical 20-ounce bottle, fill it with a few drops of red food dye and the same
number of beads. Only fill it up halfway with juice this time.
8. Explain that we are going to add corn syrup to show what happens when we eat or drink
things with added sugar.
120