Taking Science to the Home Kitchen
Rototuna Junior High School is a middle school catering for students in Years 7 to 10. Our school shares the campus and some facilities with Rototuna Senior High School, situated in the rapidly growing North East of Hamilton. A strong connection with local iwi Ngati Wairere
underpins the vision and values of the school. The local history has influenced the naming and design of areas within the school and the curriculum. Learning module units are co-constructed, taught and assessed collaboratively by teachers from several curriculum learning areas in response to student needs and interests. These modules foster deep learning and student engagement, with meaningful connections across learning areas.
We were excited to be paired to teach a Year 8 and 10 Science and Food Technology course this semester. The focus for our curriculum areas were chemistry and technological products. As we combined our pots and pans with test tubes and tongs, we set out to help our students realise that chemicals are not just kept in test tubes or viewed under microscopes, but are the very substances we cook and eat — that the reactions taking place in conical flasks and those in the oven are in fact the same. We wanted them to see no divide between science lab and kitchen, but rather to recognise these two classrooms as one and the same. So, as we commenced the semester, we threw on our chef hats, lab coats and started observing the seamless connection between atoms and aromas, between formulae and food.
Why Does It Do That?
We started the sparking phase by getting our students in Umu (our food technology room) which was the beginning of their learning journey. We sparked all sorts of food science in the first few weeks and realised students had quite a lot of prior knowledge. Learners realised that food science is filled with an endless series of unanswered questions:
• “Why does my ice block stick to the mould?”
• “Why does my bread not rise?”
• “Why does my sauce split?”
During our seeking phase, we learned the science behind fermentation when making kombucha. We purchased a range of products on the market to test using our senses but also made our own kombucha using the Mad Millie’s products on the market so students could ‘make and test,’ just like a food technologist or scientist would in the ‘real world.’ Our philosophy behind all of our planning this semester was to expose students to what these careers can offer. Students were exposed to opportunities to make sense of how ingredients behave the way they do. A lot of our conversations revolved around solving a problem related to who would solve that, what their role would be and how this matters to the end prototype or outcome. Halfway through our first term, the challenge of Covid resurfaced and each individual was forced to take both chef
hat and lab coat into their own personal kitchen. However, with the many challenges of distance learning also came so many opportunities. Students were now able to share their learning with whānau through a home cooked dinner or use their siblings as (very honest) stakeholders to inform their next steps as they endeavoured to perfect various bread products they designed. Our main learning focus during this period was factors that affect the rate of chemical reaction in the kitchen. Students carried out the scientific method, as they experimented with changes in temperature and concentration to observe the effects on the rate of fermentation and eventually on the outcome of their bread products. Students learnt the importance of having a control in order to validate their observations and testing. The idea is that you need to include at least one sample in your testing for which the answer is already known, which allows results that are reliable and conclusive.
Upon return to school, we changed direction and delved into the concept of acid and bases, specifically focusing on
the use of acids in cooking. We started by investigating the nature of acids and their function when used in marinades. Inspired by the Cook Island dish, Ika Mata, makes use of traditional methods of cooking, through the application of the islands’ natural resources. We built on our knowledge of the denaturing of proteins by looking at acids’ ability to not only marinate protein, but actually COOK it!
We again set the challenge for our students to take their new knowledge home and share it with their whānau through home cooking. Inspired by ‘My Food Bag,’ we created ‘My Bubble Bag,’ food packages that contained the ingredients and recipe for a family dinner. Our students were able to make their own marinades at home, test the pH level of these and share their new learning with their whānau over a
well-marinated piece of steak, chicken or tofu.
