CP806-Space-Nuggets

Overview: This unit looked at the overall issue of why and how food is preserved. Students focussed on the special requirements of food in space travel and adapted a muesli bar recipe to create their 'space nuggets'. They discussed food packaging and labelling requirements, then packaged their product and completed a nutritional information pack. Jacquey has written this and her other Food Technology units with a Food Technology Toolbox in mind.

Bush Primary School's Technology Centre serves 14 local primary schools. Originally hosted by Hillcrest School, it moved to a purpose-built technology suite at Tararua College in 2002 and has been administered by the college since 2007.

The programme is run on a 12-day rotation, with each school attending once every 12 days. Lessons are run from 9:30 to 2:15 (with a half-hour lunch break) to allow travelling time for those from outside Pahiatua.

Year 7 students do a term of Food Technology with Jacquey Neilson, while the Year 8s are working on Hard Materials Technology with Tim Swale.

Food Technology is a new concept for some, while those with older siblings might have some idea that it's not just cooking. There is a diverse range of home-based experience in food preparation - some students are not encouraged to do much in the kitchen while others cook the family meal. To ensure that all students have a complete set of basic skills and know how to use equipment safely, Jacquey starts the whole class working at the same beginner skill level. And while the more experienced students might have an advantage in cooking, they all need to learn the basics of technological practice.

The Year 7 programme is divided into two terms of Hard Materials Technology, one term of Soft Materials Technology and one of Food Technology. With a class returning every 12 days this means Jacquey has four days to deliver her Food Technology programme, one unit per day.

Having a day to deliver her unit, rather than rushing to beat the bell, is an advantage Jacquey enjoys. However, it does mean there is no opportunity for finishing anything the next day, and every part of the lesson must be precisely timed. She tries out every activity and times it, to ensure it will fit. Even so, the first class is a guinea pig and, allowing for different reactions from classes, she doesn't write up her 'final' teaching/learning sequence until it's been done at least two or three times.

The class starts the term with a unit introducing Food Technology in which students prepare and bake bread cases, made with a white sauce and completed with their chosen ingredients.

In the second lesson, Mobile Food, students make bread for pizza bases which they bake with individual toppings. The class also looks at the importance of packaging, so students have some knowledge of this which they can develop when they move on to the Food Preservation: Space Nuggets unit, taught in the third lesson of the term.

The focus in the final unit, Winter Warmers, is on the impact of processing changes on the flavour and texture of a product, in this case the soup the students develop.

Jacquey emphasises to her students that they're not doing cooking, that they're doing Food Technology and that the cooking they do is supporting this. She explains that they might not necessarily cook during every lesson (even though they do), so that there is no expectation that they've got to cook. This also sets them up for Year 9, where some lessons focus on aspects other than cooking.

Jacquey has worked with Diana Eagle, Tararua College, to provide students with a smooth transition in moving from Year 7/8 to Year 9/10 Food Technology, ensuring that they use the same routines and terminology in class.

Jacquey and Diana both base their programmes on a Food Technology Toolbox (see the Food Technology Toolbox case study) which was developed by Diana and food technologist Carol Pound. Jacquey has found that the Toolbox is helpful for programme planning and reassuring, in that she can see she is already using the various 'tools' suitable for Years 7-8. Her programme shows how each unit of work fits into the Toolbox framework.

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.

Jacquey Neilson:

"Technology is empowering the students to be inventive, to explore things and to modify as they go along. Until quite recently you got your recipe or pattern and didn't deviate from it. Now they're encouraged to take a basic formulation or pattern and adapt it, modify it, trial and test, go back and do it again."

Apple slice on electronic scales

Jacquey finds this a very effective unit - "The kids loved it and the DVD was a real hit; it formed a very sound base for written and practical aspects of the unit and promoted excellent discussion and thinking skills."

She says that overall the unit was valuable for discussion and consolidation of skills, providing students with the opportunity to build on their prior knowledge, especially with regard to packaging. "Some students entered into very thought-provoking discussion regarding space travel and preserving food."

Jacquey follows up each unit with a quick round-up in the next lesson, asking about family reaction to their product and who has made it again at home. The unit work sheet includes the base recipe and also serves as an opportunity to show parents what is involved in Food Technology.

She finds that a few students have problems with measurement. – some find the use of scales and measuring spoons, etc, a new experience and have difficulty measuring accurately, others simply don't understand fractions ("what does ¼ mean?").

Is there time to cater for students needing more from the lesson, when they're only seen every 12 days? Jacquey expects a lot more from more able students in their responses and written briefs. She orders National Library service books for each new unit, which provide a resource to extend these students. Every now and then when a student has writing difficulties Jacquey will write their responses in their own words, so that they can focus on the technological process and she knows what they're thinking and understanding.

Jacquey plans to use this unit again. She notes that most of the class have never bothered reading nutritional information panels, with the exception of those with food allergies. These students are catered for, depending upon need. Next year a student with coeliac disease will be given a commercial gluten-free mix instead of rolled oats, flour, etc. As this is quite expensive, only this student and partner will cook with it but it can lead to sensory testing to see if there is a difference in recipes based on two different products.

Although she doesn't see parents in formal interview situations, Jacquey does meet the rural parents on the driving roster and invites them to come in and see what the class is doing, presenting an opportunity to show them what Technology involves. As a Pahiatua local she often chats with parents who mention her "cooking" classes and is able to explain Food Technology to them.