With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Enriching Learning, Programs, and Student Experiences: Educational Instrumentation project will modernize the chemistry laboratory curricula. The addition of high-end analytical instrumentation will be used to measure the chemical composition and optical properties of food and beverages. This project addresses the lack of modern analytical instruments available to students and faculty. The instrumentation will allow students to acquire meaningful data about the 'secrets' of the atomic and molecular world they see, smell, feel, and taste in their everyday lives and future work. Specifically, the instruments will allow students to collect, organize, and deduce data patterns related to foods and beverages. This cross-disciplinary project will engage students in General Chemistry and an entry-level required mathematics course for non-STEM students. Data generated by chemistry students will be shared with the mathematics students, who will organize and explore the data as part of their coursework. A new flame atomic absorption/emission spectrometer will be used to measure: 1) the chemical composition of certain foods, beverages, and bottled waters, and 2) the salt load applied to an agricultural field irrigated with Colorado River water. Polarimeters and refractometers will be used to measure the optical properties of certain foods and beverages. Digital alcohol me