Dye Portfolio
Dye Portfolio
The following topics are possible additions to your Dye Portfolio
Literature Integration
Research and report on the importance of colored eggs in the mythology and folk customs of countries around the world.
Compile a list of literary quotations related to colors using the Oxford English Dictionary or the Home Book of Quotations.
Read "Indigo" by Nicholas Carnac (St. Martin Press, NY, 1982). This novel is set in the indigo plantations of India.
History and Economics
Research and report on the history of the dye industry.
Research and report on how the exploration of the new world affected the dye industry through the discovery of new dye materials.
Research the powerful guild system and its attempts to create protectionist policies such as bans on the importation of certain dye materials.
Report on the influence of indigo importation to the economics of the woad industry in Europe.
Report on commercial trade routes and their influence on the spread of dye use from one continent to another.
Report on the influence of the Revolutionary War on the indigo industry in Colonial America.
Research and report on the trade implications of having different synthetic colorants approved in different countries.
Report on the colorant certification process (FD&C)
Explore historical controversies surrounding the certification and delisting of synthetic colors.
Report on the way in which political factors affect the availability of natural colors, many of which are imported from third world countries.
Art
Create your own dyed yarn project or create an article of apparel or a piece of fiber art.
Report on the use of natural dyes and weaving in the American Indian cultures, or the South American Indian cultures.
Create a product using Inkodye. (see Dr. Hanna for directions)
Tie Dye something.
Biology/Botany
Report on the botanical families of dye-bearing plants.
Study color perception in animals. Design (and possibly carry out) experiments on artificially coloring dog and cat foods and testing the animal's acceptance of different colored foods.
Interview a health professional or food scientist about human allergies to FD&C colors.
Report on dyes used for medicinal purposes. example: phenazopyridine, iodine.
Psychology
Organize a research project testing color perception and preference as it relates to food choices and flavor.
Business and Marketing
Design marketing and ad campaigns promoting foods of unusual colors.
Report on current production and promotion of colorless carbonated beverages.