"Which came first—the engineer or the scientist? Scientists find out why things happen. Engineers solve problems to make particular things happen." In this story, students learn about the interplay between science and engineering in fermentation research—from the discovery of pasteurization in the 1800s to current efforts to produce efficient biofuels with biotechnology. Research stories give students a window into the work of professional scientists and engineers. This allows students to see how the processes of school science are reflected in the real world while building literacy skills with science-specific content. Extend the learning by combing this activity with the Boosting Yeast's Appetite for Sugars data dive, Fermentation in a Bag activity, Fermentation Challenge: Making Ethanol from Cellulose activity, and CB2E: Converting Cellulosic Biomass to Ethanol lab.

For more information, read this short introduction to research stories and how to use them in science classes.