My Changing World: Thematic Unit Home Economics ... - … · My Changing World Thematic Unit Home Economics: Stop the ... Have the learners work in groups to investigate ... Together

Home Economics:Stop The Rot!

Learning for Life and Work (MLD)

My Changing World:Thematic Unit

Writers’ Group

Nora O Baoil, Fleming Fulton School, Belfast (Editor)Mura Kennedy, Fleming Fulton School, Belfast (Editor)

Avril Fryer, Rostulla School, NewtownabbeyRuth McCreadie, Longstone School, BelfastJune Richardson, Cedar Lodge School, BelfastFionnuala Saunders, St Gerard’s Education Resource Centre, BelfastPauline Brady, Rathmore Guidance Centre, AntrimColm Hassan, Belmont School, LondonderryMary Connolly, Erne School, EnniskillenEileen McKeown, Erne School, EnniskillenMary McKendry, Castle Tower School (Loughan Campus), Ballymena

Associate TeachersDenise Maguire, Newtownabbey Educational Guidance CentreBronac O’Connell, Sunlea Educational Guidance Centre, Coleraine

A CCEA Publication ©2009

www.nicurriculum.org.uk

Cover Photograph: Bubbles Photo Library

1 My Changing World Thematic Unit Home Economics: Stop the Rot!

Unit Title: My Changing WorldSub Theme: Home Economics: Stop the Rot!

Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities: Thinking, Problem-Solving and Decision-Making

Curriculum Objective: To develop the young person as an individual

Key Elements: Personal understanding, mutual understanding, personal health, moral character, spiritual awareness, citizenship, ethical awareness

Attitudes and Dispositions: Personal responsibility, concern for others, openness to new ideas, curiosity, tolerance, integrity/moral courage, respect, community spirit

Learning Experiences: Investigating and problem-solving, linked to other curriculum areas, relevant and enjoyable, offers choice, supportive environment, ongoing reflection, enquiry-based

The Thematic Units connect the Learning for Life and Work subject strands of Personal Development, Local and Global Citizenship, Home Economics and Employability and demonstrate how they contribute to the understanding of a central theme. They provide a number of learning, teaching and assessment activities (and are accompanied by supporting resources) to help you address, interpret and develop the Northern Ireland Curriculum’s key elements and Statements of Minimum Requirement.

Each Thematic Unit contributes to the statutory requirement for Learning for Life and Work and also links to other Areas of Learning. In addition, there are opportunities to develop learners’ Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities, incorporate Assessment for Learning principles and make connections to the Cross Curricular Skills.

The units are not intended to be prescriptive and are not the only way to approach the Northern Ireland Curriculum. You do not have to follow them rigidly. Instead, we encourage you to choose from the wide range of learning, teaching and assessment activities in the units and adapt and extend them as appropriate for your classes.

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My Changing World Thematic Unit Home Economics: Stop the Rot!

Statements of Minimum Requirement

These are the Statements of Minimum Requirement that are addressed in this unit:

Home EconomicsHealthy EatingInvestigate the impact of storage, preparation and cooking on food

Home EconomicsIndependent LivingInvestigate consumer rights and responsibilities

Home EconomicsIndependent LivingInvestigate a range of factors that influence consumer choices and decisions

Home EconomicsHealthy EatingExplore ways to achieve a healthy diet


Communication -Contribute comments, ask questions and respond to others’ points of view

Make links between cause and effect

Key Question Learning IntentionLearners will have opportunities to …

Possible Learning, Teaching and Assessment Activities Skills and Capabilities

Why does food need to be kept fresh?

... examine factors involved in storing fresh food.

Show the learners two apples, bananas, lettuces and/or slices of bread – one freshand one rotten or mouldy. Ask which one they would prefer to eat. You could takedigital photos at regular intervals while the food deteriorates to have a record toshow in class.

Discuss the learners’ responses and the consequences of not keeping food fresh.Talk together about how it is best to eat fresh food to prevent food poisoning.

Discuss how food comes from plants or animals. Create two large wall charts frompictures in magazines, one showing food from plants, and the other, food fromanimals. Highlight that animal foods need careful storage because they arehigh-risk foods.

Resource Sheet in this booklet

Online Activity (OA) or PowerPoint Activity (PP) available from www.nicurriculum.org.uk

Skills tabs printed in orange are Cross Curricular Skills

Skills tabs printed in yellow are Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities

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Using ICT -Investigate, make predictions and solve problems through interaction with electronic tools

Using ICT -Research, select, process and interpret information

Examine options, weigh up pros and cons

Communication -Communicate information, ideas, opinions and feelings



How can we keep food fresh?

... develop skills in the safe storage of foods.

Storage conditions should maintain the nutritional value, appearance and taste offood. Use the PowerPoint to introduce the need for foods to be stored correctly.Together discuss the different places food can be stored in the kitchen, for examplea dry goods cupboard, vegetable rack, fridge or freezer.

PP: Food Storage

Gather a wide selection of different foods and play the Four Corners game. Printout Resource 1 and label each of the four corners of the room. Give each learnera food, or a picture of food, and tell them to stand in the corner they think is correct(for example, milk belongs in the fridge corner).

Resource 1: Four Corners

Use the pictures in Resource 2 to reinforce the information. Have the learnersdecide in small groups where each food should be stored.

Resource 2: Where Would You Store These Foods Safely?

Show the PowerPoint and discuss together the guidelines for storing food in thefridge. Together consider the guidelines for storing food in the freezer.

PP: The Fridge And The Freezer

Use the fridge and freezer in the HE Room to illustrate all of the above. Alternatively,a visit to the school canteen might show a broader range of examples.


Communication -Communicate information, ideas, opinions and feelings using an expanding vocabulary

Communication -Find, select and use information from a range of sources

Select, classify, compare and evaluate information

Communication -Listen to and take part in discussions



How can we keep food fresh?

... develop skills in the safe storage of foods.

Provide copies of Resource 4 and, if possible, A3-sized copies of the picture in Resource 3.Have the learners cut and paste or draw the foods into the appropriate storage area in thekitchen. This activity reinforces the information they have learned about food storage.

Resource 3: The Kitchen

Resource 4: Kitchen Storage

Read through Resource 5 to consider facts about milk and different ways it wassold in the past. Research online the history of the milkman. Collect differentpackaging used for storing milk, for example paperboard cartons, plastic bottles,glass bottles and billycans. Group the containers into those that would keepmilk fresh for a day, for a week or for longer (long life). You could develop thispackaging theme into individual projects on the history of other packaging.

Resource 5: About Milk

Stress again that some foods, including milk, need to be stored in the fridge to helpstop bacteria multiplying. Highlight sell-by/use-by information on milk packaging,and emphasise the dangers of using high-risk foods after these dates.

Emphasise that food poisoning is an avoidable illness. There is a selection ofexcellent websites with good resources covering this topic fully.

For further information, go to:www.foodlink.org.uk - click on Food Storage and Food Poisoning for good fact sheets.

www.storefoodonline.com - go to Education, then click on Post Primary.

www.eatwell.gov.uk/keepingfoodsafe

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Using ICT -Access and manage information

Make predictions, examine evidence and distinguish fact from fiction




How do supermarkets keep food fresh?

... combine and build on information from a variety of sources.

Explore with your learners what supermarket chains they know. Consider what ismeant by the term ‘supermarket’. For instance, all supermarkets have commonfeatures: they have a design of layout to encourage impulse buying, a mixed rangeof merchandise, and are often located on the outskirts of towns and cities. Carryout a survey to find out which supermarket chain is most popular, using as big asample base as possible.

Organise a visit to a local supermarket to enable the learners to complete Resource 6. (If a group visit is not possible, they could do this as homework.)

Resource 6: Supermarket Sweep

Have the learners work in groups to investigate various supermarket websitesand look at the procedures for ordering online. Together discuss the reasonswhy this method of shopping could be helpful to certain groups of people (forexample people who do shift work, mothers with young children and people with disabilities).

Make a shopping list of basic foodstuff (or ingredients for a recipe). Usesupermarket websites or price comparison sites to check prices and record whichsupermarket is best value.

Discuss the advantages of the different types of food available: fresh, chilled, frozen,dried and tinned. Explain that this wide variety of ways to preserve food allows usan extensive choice in our diets and can help us to prepare healthy meals more easily.


Communication -Speak clearly and structure talk so that ideas can be understood by others

Justify methods, opinions and conclusions

Communication -Listen to and take part in discussionsand explanations



Should I shop in a supermarket?

... make informed choices. Together discuss why some people are critical of the big supermarket chains.Supermarkets face criticism for contributing heavily to environmental damage byimporting foods unnecessarily, presenting overpackaged foods, using plastic carrierbags, etc. Explore environmental issues created by our shopping habits.

Create two lists – one for the advantages of shopping in a supermarket and onefor the advantages of shopping in a smaller shop. As the investigation progresses,add comments under these headings.

Show the PowerPoint and discuss the information it contains.

PP: Eco-Friendly Shopping

Discuss and/or investigate together on the internet some specific companies thatsell eco-friendly products, such as:− Ecover;− Divine;− Suma;− Traidcraft;− People Tree; and− Café Direct.

Use Resource 7 to evaluate what changes your learners would feel were acceptablein their lives to help the environment.

Resource 7: How Far Would I Go?

You can make links to Art & Design by: Creating a poster that encourages people to think environmentally, for example‘Reuse plastic bags’.

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Using Mathematics -Read, interpret, organise and present information in mathematical formats


Make links between cause and effect

Communication -Communicate information, ideas, opinions and feelings using an expanding vocabulary



What influences my food choices?

... investigate factors which influence teenage food choices.

Together discuss what influences the learners’ food choices. Include the followingfactors where appropriate.

Personal likes and dislikes:Have the learners list a number of their favourite and least favourite foods onseparate post-it notes.

You can make links to Using Mathematics by:Creating a bar chart, Venn diagram or pie chart of the results.

Fashion trends and advertising:Together identify foods which are popular today but were not available orfashionable some years ago. You could set this as research homework, asking thelearners to interview their parents or grandparents about food trends in their youth,recording or videoing their interviews if possible. Discuss how advertising mayinfluence our choices. Develop this theme if appropriate.

Religion:Using the internet, books and encyclopedias, investigate the reasons for foodchoices in a range of religions.

Health issues:Explore the issue of healthy food choices. Investigate which are healthy food choicesand why.

Together you could create a menu and cook a healthy meal.


Examine options, weigh up pros and cons




Is there anything I should change?

... review learning and identify some aspects that might be improved.

Together discuss the need for a personal or family change in choices about food, foodstorage or shops. Decide how best to bring about this change, for example talkingwith their parents about buying more fruit and vegetables, reusing plastic bags orexploring with younger siblings the need for appropriate food storage.

Encourage the learners to present feedback to their peers on any success orchallenges they encounter.

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Resources


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Four Corners Resource 1

Fridge

Freezer

Cupboard

Vegetable basket


Resource 2Where Would You Store These Foods Safely?

fresh milk carrots baked beans cooked ham

fresh strawberries sliced cheese fresh bread eggs

cooked chicken fresh apples pasta flour

lettuce rice yoghurt ice cream

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The Kitchen Resource 3

Salad Drawer


Resource 4Kitchen Storage

tomato sauce salad ice cream fresh strawberries sugar rice

bagel tinned beans tomatoes biscuits broccoli fruit juice

chicken fillet frozen chips bread jar of coffee frozen peas butter

sliced cooked meat mayonnaise honey fresh meat milk bananas

BEANS

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Do you remember all you have discovered about how important it is to store food safely? Cut and paste the foods below into the correct storage space in the kitchen. You may want to work in small groups.


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About Milk Resource 5

Originally, milk was delivered from a large churn on the back of a cart.

There are many types of milk. Some types depend on the milk fat content (for example semi-skimmed) and some on the type of processing (pasteurisation).

Most people drink cow’s milk, but some people are allergic to it. They can drink soya milk, from soya beans.

Pasteurised milk has been heated to kill most of the bacteria.

There are three main types of milk that we can buy: full-fat milk, semi-skimmed milk and skimmed milk.

UHT milk and dried milk can be stored for a long time.

Cows in an organic herd have access to fields and are not given any hormones.

Many foods are made from milk, for example cream, ice cream, cheese and yoghurt.

Milk used to be delivered by milkmen, but now there are very few.

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Resource 6Supermarket Sweep

Supermarkets are divided into different sections, carefully planned to get you to buy as much as possible! On your visit to the supermarket, tick the box as you find each section.

fresh fruit and vegetables frozen foods

chilled prepared food sauces

tinned foods bread

fresh meat soft drinks

detergents toiletries

During your visit, find out if the supermarket offers services, for example credit cards or insurance.

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How Far Would I Go? Resource 7

Use shopping bags or baskets and say ‘no, thank you’to plastic carrier bags. Reuse plastic bags as bin liners.

Buy food loose when you can, especially fruit and vegetables. Always choose refillable, reusable containers.

Cut back on using the car. Walking will keep you fit, save you money and stop all those poisons getting into the air.

Use eco-friendly washing powder and cleaning agents.

Choose fruit and vegetables that are in season and grown locally. For example, when you see strawberries in winter, you know they aren’t grown locally.

Find out where you can recycle bottles, paper and clothes near where you live.

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Circle the changes you would be willing to make to help the environment.

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My Changing World: Thematic Unit Home Economics ... - … · My Changing World Thematic Unit Home Economics: Stop the ... Have the learners work in groups to investigate ... Together