Delivery
Jacquey started the lesson with the NASA (National Aeronautical & Space Administration) DVD 'Food in Space' – this quickly hooked the children in to the concept of preserving food and the specialised food requirements in such a location.
She then took the class back in time and discussed the history of preserving food – why it is necessary and techniques used then and now. She displayed a range of preserved food, included the bottled fruit once common in most households. (Many of the rural children were aware of the concept of bottling but a lot of the town children hadn't heard of it).
The class looked at an assortment of dehydrated foods and examined the contents of an army ration pack. This was a good example of specialised packaging needs, such as jam in tubes instead of glass jars, and led to a discussion on why the product was identified by code instead of the branding students were used to seeing on store-bought food.
Food technologist Carol Pound had obtained a space 'snack pack' from NASA in the United States of America. This differed from the army pack in terms of the food (dehydrated ice cream!) and the way it was packaged, and reinforced what students had learnt from the DVD - that food in space must be nutritious, able to be eaten easily in that environment and crumb free, as crumbs are a potential menace to equipment.
Having looked at the benefits of dehydrated food, Jacquey followed up with a practical demonstration. Everyone ate a fresh apple slice and she then weighed a slice on the digital scales, marked it and placed it in the dehydrator. Throughout the day they monitored the progress of the dehydrating process, weighing the slice and recording any changes.
"Without exception, someone in each class answered my question on where the moisture goes with 'the bottom of the tray'. At the end of the day, when they saw there was none there I likened it to drying their hair and asked whether they'd end up standing in a puddle."
Later in the afternoon the students examined all the dehydrated slices, noting how they'd shrivelled and become lighter and more flexible. Another tasting established that the flavour had intensified with the removal of the moisture.
During this focus on Chemistry Jacquey introduced the class to the concept of pH levels in food, explaining why foods with a high pH level are not suitable for bottling, due to their lack of acidity. An apple was tested for acidity using litmus paper.
Using knowledge gained during the lesson, the class discussed the specialised requirements of food in space – secure packaging, crumb-free, small enough to pop in the mouth, and when a high energy food, such as a muesli bar, is appropriate.
The class then looked at how a muesli bar recipe could be altered to fit a particular need or preference, such as substituting apple puree for peanut butter for someone with allergies. Each student adapted a basic formulation, selecting from a range of nuts and dehydrated or glacé fruit. They had to ensure that their product provided a balanced food for an astronaut, that the ingredients were bound together to ensure there were no crumbs, and of course that it tasted good.
Students cooked their mixture in the microwave and pressed them into mini muffin tins, to make a small product – which they decided to call space nuggets. After sensory testing their nuggets they evaluated the results verbally, and then retested their sample against the specifications of their briefs, before completing their written brief and writing their personal ranking.
Packaging is a big part of the unit and the class looked a range of muesli/snack bars currently on the market and considered how they are packaged and why. They then discussed the specific packaging needs of space food, including the need for minimal wrapping. Jacquey introduced HACCP and how this might apply in space.
When packing their nuggets the children used the heat sealer to securely fasten their packets.
They also discussed the purpose, and legal requirements, of nutritional information on packaging. Students had to consider the nutrition content of their nugget and prepare a label listing ingredients and nutritional information. Jacquey used software on the college's computer to find out how much fat, sugar, etc per serving for each student's ingredients/measurements.
