Who doesn't love food? If you want to cook and eat, head to the kitchen or your lunchbox. If you want to look at the science behind food, come to this class. Our topic this term is divided into food consumption and food production. Starting with consumption, we will look at:
- nutrition (e.g. what is protein and why do we need it?);
- digestion (from table to toilet);
- traditional preserving techniques (e.g. tītī in pōhā, smoking and the use of salt);
- pathogens (e.g. salmonella, botulism..); and
- chemistry (physical and chemical changes, food batteries).
Moving to production, we examine where our food comes from and how it is grown. We'll discuss whether we are eating ourselves to extinction and what food in the future might look like. Crickets anyone?
Expect to read, write, discuss, sketch, observe, predict... As usual in this class, you need a device or something to write on and with. There will be two lessons a week with teacher-led activities, and one hands-on lesson where we work in groups on STEM or food related investigations.
Please note that Kate is away for the first two weeks of this course, but she will be leaving lots of activities for you to work through with a reliever.