Picking Super Bowl Winner, Dollars to Doughnuts

Hypothesis: The city with the tastiest doughnuts has the greatest football team. (Go, Pats! Ahem.)

Method: A blind taste test of Krispy Kreme and Dunkin’ Donuts will predict the winner of Super Bowl LI, Atlanta Falcons vs. New England Patriots. Mini-scientists judge the look, taste and design of the doughnuts. Krispy Kreme represents the Falcons; Dunkin’ Donuts represents the Patriots.

Ryan and Abby Levs learn that science can be tasty.

Materials:

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• Scientists ages 2 to 10 — Abby, Jordy and Ryan Levs; Beckett, Shaw and Crosby Gordon; Holly Brandenburg; Mathis and Rowyn Chekanow; Brynn Roll; Matt and Kevin Witten; and Michaela and Isaac Atkins.
• Dunkin’ Donuts glazed, chocolate glazed and pink frosted with sprinkles.
• Krispy Kreme glazed, chocolate glazed and pink frosted with sprinkles.
• A plethora of napkins.
• A big yard to run off the sugar high and/or fight with siblings.

Experiment: Two dozen doughnuts were obtained from each bakery. The doughnuts were cut into bite-size samples and divided into two trays, one for Dunkin’ and one for Krispy Kreme.

The trays were placed inside the Doughnut-Off box so as not to influence the mini-scientists.

The mini-scientists were given one sample at a time — first Glazed A, then Glazed B, and so on. To prevent bias, A doughnuts and B doughnuts were not always from the same bakery.

Derek Atkins and his son, Isaac, show some Yankee bias in the experiment.

Observations:

• Whole Krispy Kreme and Dunkin’ Donuts doughnuts look alike to an untrained eye. When cut into bite-size samples, however, the Krispy Kreme glaze cracks and flakes, while the Dunkin’ Donuts glaze holds steady.
• A pink frosted doughnut is a pink frosted doughnut is a pink frosted doughnut.
• Mini-scientists do not have the capacity to stay professional, calm and in a seated position after six doughnut samples.

Data:

• Glazed A (Krispy Kreme) — Five votes. Abby, 3, voted for this because A is the first letter of her name. Kevin, 9, said it was a better quality of glaze.
• Glazed B (Dunkin’) — Six votes. Beckett, 10, preferred this version because the glaze had a better taste. Jordy, 7, said it had a fruity taste. Holly, 4, said, “I like it all.”
• Chocolate glazed A (Krispy Kreme) — Five votes. Despite eating the entire sample, Shaw, 6, said he “did not like this doughnut at all.” Isaac, 2, said he likes chocolate.
• Chocolate glazed B (Dunkin’) — Seven votes. Rowyn, 7, liked the taste of this chocolate better than the other.
• Pink frosted A (Dunkin’) — Five votes. Brynn, 5, preferred the high quality of sprinkles on this sample. Mathis, 5, agreed that the sprinkles were better.
• Pink frosted B (Krispy Kreme) — Seven votes. Crosby, 6, said this was “just plain bad.” Matt, 9, felt it had the perfect amount of topping. His twin brother, Kevin, agreed.

Conclusion: Dunkin’ Donuts totaled 18 votes, while Krispy Kreme gathered only 17. Therefore, the Patriots will win Super Bowl LI, but it could be a close game.

Photos by Logan C. Ritchie