Item List
lesson library
Our lessons explore foods by connecting them to traditional concepts taught in secondary STEM education. Most lessons use a "sense-making" approach: essentially experiencing a food or recipe and then making sense of the process and product through use of observations, science concepts and building off of each other's ideas.
All of our lessons include a hands-on lab or activity students can either do themselves or watch us do. To support and empower students in making connections and understanding the science concepts behind these foods, we design ready-to-go classroom slides, write anchor readings/articles, and produce videos. We also design student activities and worksheets that encourage further engagement and critical thinking.
Topics
Chemistry:
Biology & Ecology:
Food:
Available Active Time:
Paneer & Calcium
Explore how calcium content impacts curd formation and structure through different trials of paneer cheese.
grades:
10
-
12
time:
1-3 class periods
science concepts:
solubility, acids and bases, elasticity, engineering design, measurements, stoichiometry, intermolecular forces
Get a taste for the lesson!
How is Cheese Made?
Understand how acids form curds in milk through a mini-lab and explanation of the phenomena using concepts of electrostatic charges and solubility.
grades:
6
-
9
time:
1-2 class periods
science concepts:
chemical changes, polarity, intermolecular forces, solubility, cheese
Get a taste for the lesson!
PBL Unit: Chemistry of Cheesemaking
Explore the chemical processes behind coagulation and cheese texture. Then design your own experiment to explore cheesemaking.
grades:
9
-
12
time:
14 class periods
science concepts:
microbes, types of mixtures, chemical reactions, intermolecular forces, cheese
Get a taste for the lesson!
Brown Butter: Physical & Chemical Changes
Explore how food transforms through chemical and physical changes by making brown butter rice krispie treats.
grades:
6
-
10
time:
3-7 class periods (can squeeze into 2)
science concepts:
chemical changes, physical changes, phase changes, chemical reactions
Get a taste for the lesson!
Pancakes & Baking Soda: Chemical Reactions & Limiting Reactants
Explore how baking soda and baking powder work and why amounts matter in recipes through a series of labs using baking soda and pancakes.
grades:
9
-
12
time:
3-7 class periods
science concepts:
chemical reactions, limiting reactants, theoretical & percent yield, stoichiometry
Get a taste for the lesson!
Kimchi: Lactic Acid Bacteria and Cellular Respiration
Students will learn about microbes and cellular respiration (specifically anaerobic lactic acid fermentation) by making a traditional Korean food, kimchi.
grades:
9
-
10
time:
2-3 class periods
science concepts:
microbes, cycling of matter, cellular respiration, fermentation, ecosystems