Skip to content
Oak National Academy
Oak National Academy
Teachers
Pupils
New
New
Year 6

Growing yeast: do and review (non-statutory)

I can carry out and evaluate an investigation to find out about food sources for micro-organisms.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils
New
New
Year 6

Growing yeast: do and review (non-statutory)

I can carry out and evaluate an investigation to find out about food sources for micro-organisms.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Yeast consumes sugar and releases carbon dioxide gas as a result. This is called fermentation.
  2. Scientists control variables to see the effect of changing one variable.
  3. Fermentation can be observed over time and recorded using scientific diagrams, tables and charts.
  4. Scientists use the results of their enquiries to make a conclusion that addresses their investigation question.
  5. Scientists evaluate their investigations by thinking about how well they went and how reliable their results are.

Common misconception

Pupils may think that a ‘fair test’ is one in which they all get an equal share in the roles or everyone gets to take a turn.

Explain that both a comparative and fair test are ones in which all variables are kept the same except for the one that is being investigated. This helps to ensure that our results show the effect of just the variable we are investigating.

Keywords

  • Yeast - Yeast is a type of fungus. It is a micro-organism used for making bread.

  • Carbon dioxide - Carbon dioxide is a type of gas.

  • Fermentation - Fermentation happens when yeast takes in nutrients from food and releases carbon dioxide and alcohol.

  • Conclusion - In a conclusion, scientists explain what the results show or mean.

  • Evaluation - The evaluation of an investigation includes what went well, what could have been improved and whether the investigation question was answered.

This is a follow-up from Lesson 9. While children are waiting for fermentation to happen in their bottles, you could demonstrate making bread dough with the ingredients from this enquiry. The dough could then be left to rise, allowing children to see fermentation in action with a real purpose.
Teacher tip

Equipment

See additional materials for equipment list.

Content guidance

  • Risk assessment required - equipment

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Video

Skip video

Loading...

Starter quiz

Download starter quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
Which of these are micro-organisms?
Correct answer: yeast
ants
moss
Correct answer: mould
Q2.
What is carbon dioxide?
Correct answer: a type of gas
a type of metal
a type of micro-organism
a type of fungus
Q3.
Which type of micro-organism is yeast?
bacteria
virus
Correct answer: fungus
Q4.
Which equipment could be used for measuring the amount of substances used in an enquiry?
Correct answer: measuring jug
tape measure
Correct answer: measuring spoons
thermometer
Q5.
What are nutrients?
substances that can only be found in the ground
Correct answer: substances that living things use to stay alive and healthy
substances that living things can reproduce
Q6.
Which variables must be kept the same in a comparative or fair test investigation?
all of them
Correct answer: all of them except for the one being investigated
only the one being investigated
none of them
Q1 image 4 Kallayanee Naloka/Shutterstock.com

Exit quiz

Download exit quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
Which of these is the best food source for yeast?
flour
vegetable oil
Correct answer: sugar
salt
Q2.
When scientists describe what happened in an enquiry and explain what the results show or mean, it is called making a...
Correct Answer: conclusion
Q3.
An evaluation of an enquiry is when…
Correct answer: scientists think about how well their results answer their original question.
scientists explain to others what their results show.
scientists represent their findings in visual ways such as using a line graph.
scientists write a list of everything they did during an investigation.
Q4.
Yeast takes in nutrients from food and releases carbon dioxide gas. This process is useful for baking and beer making and is called...
Correct Answer: fermentation, ferment
Q5.
Lucas has been observing fermentation happening over time inside bottles containing a mixture of yeast, sugar and warm water. What evidence could he look for that would show fermentation is happening?
An image in a quiz
his mixture changing colour
Correct answer: bubbles appearing at the top of his mixture
his mixture shrinking
powder appearing at the top of his mixture
Q6.
In a comparative test, scientists control to make sure their results show the effect of just one thing.
Correct Answer: variables, variable

Additional material

Download additional material
We're sorry, but preview is not currently available. Download to see additional material.