We have been presenting science projects in my classes all week. It has been a good year. Everybody but one person has completed a project. Some are basic, some are outstanding, but all are unique.
One pair tested water for to see if people preferred the taste of hard water or soft water. They used a test kit on three different types of water: city water, bottled water, and well water. After ranking them for their hardness, they subjected volunteers to a blind taste test. They predicted that people would like the softer water best, and the hardest water least. Their results showed that the tasters liked the city water and bottled water, but that well water lagged behind. This was surprising, because well water and city water were virtually the same hardness level.
The experimenters suggested that perhaps people enjoy the taste of the water they grew up drinking, which explained the city water ranking. And that now they drink mostly bottled water, which explained the bottled water ranking. I added my two cents. "You may be right. Only Experimenter 2 grew up drinking that well water. Was that the one you preferred, Experimenter 2?"
"No. I actually preferred the bottled water. It didn't help that my mom packed up the well water in an old peanut jar. It kind of tasted like old peanuts."
"Well now. I think we've discovered a logical explanation for the results."
I hope they did not use the peanut-allergy student in their experiment.
4 comments:
I have no allergies to peanuts, but I AM allergic to exercise. Every time I try it, I break out into a sweat...
Sioux,
You might want to have that checked out. If I remember correctly, the prescribed treatment is bed rest with a box of bon bons.
I grew up with well water, but I don't like the taste of the well water here. Interesting experiment, though.
Kathy,
If you had ever tasted the town water at Newmentia, you would run screaming for your well water! I can't believe they chose that. Unless the peanut water was really peanutty.
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