Science of Biofuels – Fermentation and Biofuels Lab – Student

Summary

This Science of Biofuels lab provides a detailed, student-friendly handout for conducting the “Fermentation and Biofuels Lab,” making it an ideal resource to facilitate a hands-on learning experience. Use this activity to guide students through an engaging experiment exploring how yeast ferments sugar into carbon dioxide and ethanol, directly linking to industrial biofuel production. The handout includes a clear introduction explaining the lab’s relevance, a comprehensive list of materials, and a prompt for students to form a hypothesis, encouraging scientific inquiry. The step-by-step procedure, complete with experiment tips, ensures students can successfully set up, conduct, and collect data on CO2 production. Teachers will find the data table and graphing instructions invaluable for teaching data recording and visualization. The concluding analysis questions are designed to prompt students to interpret their results, identify potential errors, evaluate their hypotheses, and critically connect their findings to the broader challenges, benefits, and drawbacks of biofuels, including the “food vs. fuel” debate.