Futureintech Ambassadors in the classroom
Class: Year 11 Food Technology
Teacher: Carolyn Norquay
School: St Kentigern College
Category: Industry links
The context
Carolyn is highly active in inviting outside professionals into her classroom. In the first major project of her Year 11 Food Technology class, students are asked to develop a still or carbonated beverage that meets the new beverage classification system.
As a lead in to this major project, Carolyn asked Jenny Griffith, a food technologist working in the production of soft drinks with Frucor, to visit the class to give the students some experience with experimenting with the use of sweeteners in drinks and possible product formulations.
Carolyn also did some preparatory work with the students around a simple brief, focussing on how technological outcomes are developed in food and some of the safety standards and regulations that food technologists have to work within to develop a product that is safe.
She then asked Futureintech Ambassador Nicola Dale (pictured) – a Food Technologist from Sensient Technologies New Zealand – to work with her on an introductory activity with the class. "Sensient had kindly supplied the flavours for us to use in the beverages and I wanted Nicola to visit the class to give the students an opportunity to experiment with the flavours by making their own drink."
Kris Blewitt, a Technology Adviser from Team Solutions in Auckland, was also asked to join in with the delivery of the activity.
The activity
Nicola started her activity by briefly explaining her role as a food technologist at Sensient: developing flavours or new ingredients for products for their client company. She then followed up on Carolyn's introductory work by giving students the brief for the session that she had planned with Carolyn.
"Students were put into teams so they had to work together and agree on how the project of making their own drink was to be done," said Kris. "Nicola emphasised the creative aspect of the food technologist's role – not just in coming up with the flavour, but also in looking at the aesthetics of the drink. She discussed some real examples and they were challenged to create a name for their drink that would reflect what it actually looked like."
Each team had access to the same basic equipment and instructions. They had a set time in which to experiment with the combinations of flavourings and use appropriate sensory evaluation practices to come up with a product that was appealing and safe.
Carolyn, Nicola and Kris then judged the products developed using set criteria. "We were looking for products with that 'wow' factor in the flavour," said Kris, "and with a name that was creative enough to make the connection to the aesthetic value of the drink".
Teacher comments
Carolyn Norquay: "This was a fun activity for the students that also provided a possible formulation and a process they could follow when developing their own beverage in their project."
Kris Blewitt: "It was very motivating for the students. They focussed on good quality Food Technological Practice and it set the ground rules and provided an ideal engagement activity for the individual project they were about to start on."
Student comments
Kate Findlay: "I thought it was a good experience and learnt a lot about different flavours, there are ones which are stronger and sweeter than others. Now that I have had a try with mixing flavours together I have a better idea of what flavours I would like to use in my final product'
Hilary Brebner: "The whole lesson was really fun, and it helped me better understand and learn how to properly, professionally make drinks – with a hands on attempt"
Mirae Lim: "It was really, really funny! And exciting making our own drink. I really enjoyed it and I feel I can do better the next time!"
