food science syllabus

[pat sommer]

Okay, Jamie O got our attention. Now folks are bemoaning the lack of cooking lessons at school... Are we vegans going to get in front of the wave or left behind with the tide?

Who has a food science background? Pedogogic? tech writing?

I did a baking apprenticeship in Bavaria that had once a week practical/theory lessons at a dedicated school. Most apprentices were 14-17 (half my age) and the workbooks and "experiments"* were geared to capturing their imagination and conveying techical knowledge (chem math bio) without going over their heads. Not university material that bunch! The completed workbooks acted as long-term reference material.

So, why not create a course that would be sciencey and, being that dead animals would make an appearance, hygiene and safety oriented?

Dead animals? the brutal reality (and wonderful alternatives) is enough to make most youngsters consider plant-based diets!

Knife skills, appliance mastery, storage/quality, portion control, menu planning
maintenance & cleaning, and then the fun stats with the "geography of flavours" -multiculturalism. Just imagining kids learning the characteristics of veg and seasons of fresh fruit gets my juices flowing.

*groups of 4 with slightly varying directions in recipe method or amounts. Results were analyzed and recorded in workbooks.

[Litsea]

Well, darn. I have a Master's degree in Science Education, but I'm over here in the US. I even have a book or two on the science behind cooking. If you'd like, I can at least find a title or two for some books to read--? I think one is called The Epicurean Laboratory.

I positively love working on lesson plans and have a bit of a knack for it. If there's a way I could help from over here, let me know. If nothing else, I might be able to use whatever comes of any cooperatives to try to make a difference on this end of the Atlantic. And even to use in my own classroom after I'm back to teaching (stay-at-home mom right now), since I hope to teach the older kids when I go back.

[pat sommer]

Wonderful, Litsea! I was raised in California and did grade 7 home ec in 1975. Where to begin...? I will try to order that title and any other reference books that can be recommended. Right now I only have questions:

1. what age range of kids? (my toddlers class did cooking!)

2. how many lessons/weeks in a typical term?

3. what are some goals/proficiencies for kids?

4. what proportion theory/practice?

5. how much should child's language level (written) effect grasp of lesson?

6. how to be unobtrusively vegan leaning under the present institutions?

7. what schools are doing cooking? private?

I am not naturally methodical. Leaping straight into a series of great 1 hour
lesson plans and hoping some continuity emerges is more like me! So, I desperately want to see a Think-Tank formed before I go off the deep end.

[Litsea]

Ahhh, a fellow teacher and Western USer.... Considering the way things go in this country at times, I rather envy you getting out of here. (No, I didn't vote for Bush.)

I don't know if you'll be able to find that book or not. I found it in a used book store and it looks to be a fairly old book. *runs to find her book* Ahhh, it's a copyright of 1980. The author is Tina Seelig. It's broken down into categories of: proteins, carbohydrates, solultions, microbes, and acids & bases. I should note here that this book is *not* vegetarian by any means, but that can be altered as needed, for the large part. I also having other lesson plans scattered throughout my collection of books. But this book seems to be pretty complete in the science details.


1. what age range of kids? (my toddlers class did cooking!)

You were spot on to list this question first, as it will determine how to approach the rest of the questions. As you said, even toddlers can cook, so we need to know who our audience is. Do you want to look at the primary grades, or secondary? The lesson plans will be considerably different for those levels. Have to apologize right here, as I only know education terminology for the States. So, I'll be thinking in terms of grades K-12, but I have also taught at the college level (chemistry labs).


2. how many lessons/weeks in a typical term?

The answer to this will vary from school district to school district, state to state, and country to country. It would be better to know how long we're designing the curriculum to last. Is this a full-blown class or a unit of study? It might be easier to just design a unit of study and go from there. (One month? Two? 12 weeks?) Also to consider, some schools have short days and others have days with double periods. It would really be best if we knew where we would be teaching to start, but it isn't absolutely necessary.


3. what are some goals/proficiencies for kids?

We need to answer that first question before we can answer this one.


4. what proportion theory/practice?

I'm a big supporter of inquiry learning. In this method, the kids engage in an activity (cooking) first, while making/recording observations and then those observations are discussed and the theory behind them is revealed. After that point, you can sometimes plan an 'advanced' activity to support the theory again. What proportion would this be of theory/practice? That's difficult to answer. I've had a whole weeks of class where there are loads of activities and weeks where there weren't many activites... depends on the theory to be taught. Cooking and nutrition would likely better lend themselves to activities though. Sorry if this sounds like a politician's answer to the question, but we never even discussed proportions of this sort in my graduate classes.


5. how much should child's language level (written) effect grasp of lesson?

I'm not exactly sure that I understand this question. But, if I think I 'get it' then our age range is going to better determine how complex a theory we can teach to the students. Even in my 8th grade classes, there was a wide range of comprehension (and lack of-). That's probably not a good answer to this....


6. how to be unobtrusively vegan leaning under the present institutions?

Personally, I wouldn't even worry about this one at all. If we're talking nutrition and you just present the facts, then meat and dairy will naturally come out looking like industrial waste anyway. The facts are the facts and can't be ignored when present properly. Children are just often lied to a lot, so they buy into the lies. Giving them the truth is the best you can do. I also have a Bachelor's degree in environmental science (and chemistry too... just so you know what you're dealing with in me), so I have information there that could probably contribute, if desired.


7. what schools are doing cooking? private?

This answer will vary from school to school and I don't think would be limited so much as to the type of school as to maybe the supplies available to do the type of activities needed.


So, to end this... focus, focus!!

[pat sommer]

Well, just back from Bristol Vegan Fayre. The Vegan Society may point us toward some more interested professionals. So, just pulling ideas from the air to get things rolling: picking an age group, say 11-12, and writing up a couple of lesson plans and see what that may then stimulate.

example: cooking a bit of veg with added herbs. in water/ in oil. both salt/ no salt to illustrate the flavour carrying properties of fat and oil. The tasting of the outcome gives the answers to the fill-in-the-blanks workbook.

Getting that ex. fleshed out including an almost comicbook style workbook page will take a few days...

In the end, I am a bit out of my depth. I am hoping I will be an adjunct to this project. Getting heaps of ideas!

p.s. am enjoying watching Bush's house of cards coming down!

[pat sommer]

on order: everyday science experiments with food, sam's science- I know where my food goes, how my body works: the food chain, the epicurean laboratory, gcse food technology worksheets

had a look at British Heart Foundations campaign Food4Thought: kid's recipes for meatballs pizza etc.

also campaign for real education which is conservative private school leaning- give that a miss

qualifications curriculum and assessment here in England is still a labyrinth to me

in the States a program in Alaska called Team Nutrition offered summer and after school cooking for 11and up; I really want to speak directly to one of the coordinators

Still finding slim pickings overall for pre-teens cooking at scool. the books aimed at this age group are woefully laden with hotdogs and icecream.

[pat sommer]

Here in England teens can get a qualification in food technology: a gcse. My thinking is to back up a step and aim for 11 - 12 year olds. there should be less pressure for a class to lead onto a career at this age or a uni entry. Content can follow much the same ground with emphasis on being self-sufficient. At this age mastery of knives and fire and electricals is still a big deal!

www.projectgcse.co.uk/food gives a breakdown of subject content. They even give a heading to Vegetarian/vegan! Overall very outdated and not too health conscious but a good idea of what kids are expected to regurgitate on exams.

This is a good starting frame work for me now that reference material is on its way: breakdown the major components of our diet with definitions characteristics, health and handling implications and perhaps a smidge of cultural reference.
So, first an outline of what kids should know then worry about how they can put it into practice

[Litsea]

I apologize for not posting here in a bit. It's definitely that busy time of year for me!

I'll look over that link as soon as I can. I'll try to do a little research of my own when I can. I think going from the starting point of working from the education standards (for the UK, since that's where this is likely to start) is going to be best. Otherwise, we could be running around in darkness.

[Cherry]

[QUOTE=pat sommer] Now folks are bemoaning the lack of cooking lessons at school... Are we vegans going to get in front of the wave or left behind with the tide?

So, why not create a course that would be sciencey and, being that dead animals would make an appearance, hygiene and safety oriented?

Dead animals? the brutal reality (and wonderful alternatives) is enough to make most youngsters consider plant-based diets! QUOTE]

I did loads of cooking with my last class of 10 year olds as part of a Healthy Eating topic in Science. They loved it. There were NO complaints about the lack of meat or milk. We made cous cous, salads, chocolate tofu dessert, and tried different types of bread. I was pretty neutral and didn't try to turn them against meat, we just talked about all the things they could eat instead. It was great that when I asked them to name, for example, a protein source, that they were coming up with some more imaginative answers than were written in the text book that they were supposed to be following.

The thing that annoys me most is when children are given free stickers and leaflets and things, and upon reading them you discover that they are actually dairy/meat industry propaganda.

[pat sommer]

Hi Cherry, could you please post some details of your class? number of classes, length, feedback from kids. I worked with that age group doing outdoor activities so its new territory expecting kids to focus in the kitchen! Another question I have is how much can we assume kids Know before class? The news here reported that a significant percentage of kids didn't know that chips (french fries) were potato!

I am making contact with VIVA in Bristol as they do alot in the field of education, I am told. Vegan society lags behind in that respect though they are strong in catering.

[pat sommer]

'The Epicurean Laboratory' arrived. Great for lay use. Major catagories are

Proteins
Carbohydrates
Solutions
Microbes
Acid Bases

After an intro that reviewed atoms/molecules the Protein section is broken into chapters 1. Eggs (globular protein) that I know of no vegan equivalent offhand 2. Milk which has an intro I like: "produced by the mammary glands of female mammals and is the sole source of nutrition for their rapidly growing young. Humans are the only animals who consume the milk of other mammals and who continue to drink it after infancy" -no dairy sales pitch there! The nature of soy milk fits into this catagory (cluster shape protein) 3. Meat. the bare facts are off-putting enough in this section. But which plant proteins have similar structure/behavior. Beans? certainly the salt and acid in cooking affect results. Gluten? 4. Gelatine. would like to see this moved to a gelling/suspension/emulsion catagory with carb setting agents. That is how it is presented in baking school 5. Garlic and Onion. Interesting place chosen to discuss odorous enzymes.

Well, much to learn about plant proteins to integrate well. Industry websites might offer clues. Bean processors? Somewhere will reveal whether bean skin is a doughnut shape protein and interior helix. About gluten, sorry to say I have forgotten a lot of my baking theory...

[Cherry]

Hi Cherry, could you please post some details of your class? number of classes, length, feedback from kids. I worked with that age group doing outdoor activities so its new territory expecting kids to focus in the kitchen! Another question I have is how much can we assume kids Know before class? The news here reported that a significant percentage of kids didn't know that chips (french fries) were potato!

I am making contact with VIVA in Bristol as they do alot in the field of education, I am told. Vegan society lags behind in that respect though they are strong in catering.

Hello Pat. It was a half term topic (about 7 weeks) but it wasn't ALL about food, it was about exercise and drugs as well. I did 2 science lessons per week although this varies between schools. There'll be at least 1 hour per week. I did 1 hr 45 mins + extra bits that I could squeeze in. What the children know about food depends on what their parents have taught them about food, and what they are able to remember from school, so it varies greatly.

I was VERY surprised to read the news that many didn't know that chips were potato. In my experience most children of 10 know things like that. They are sometimes confused about fat and sugary foods (because they think sugary foods make you fat and therefore contain mostly fats). They usually know some of the names of the food groups (proteins, fats, vitamins, etc) but not all, but have no idea which foods help you to grow, or give you energy. Most know that fruits and vegetables are great but are not sure why!

I wonder if the children were asked what the main ingredient of french fries were in a 'tricksy' way. Some could easily think there was more fat than potato. Children do get used to being asked trick questions.

I'm glad that Vegetarian education is taking off! Alas, I teach hardly any young vegetarians at the moment.

[pat sommer]

As expected their is plenty of information on the properties of animal protein. I have been stumped trying to integrate some vegan foods into the protein catagories of reference material such as Epicurean Laboratory. does soymilk exhibit the characteristics of casein clusters? does salt coagulate legume protein like albumin? what I read on the web is too technical for me so far. Anyone recommend another source?

[pat sommer]

A gal who worked as a community nurse in the Himalaya told me how she taught parents the basics of hygiene using the example of chilies. your hands might LOOK clean after changing baby's soiled underpants but if it was chilies being handled would they then put their fingers into babies eyes without a thorough rub in ashes and a soap and water scrub? Germs, similarly cannot be seen or smelled but have big consequences.
I can imagine the life-long impression kids would have handling chilies! Maybe too scary.... there was also a tv ad showing cross-contamination lit up by black light- very impressive. Then there is the good old petri dish of agar agar: a swab from a kitchen surface left to incubate... those amazing microbes! Well, I do appreciate the ones that make beer and bread