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, textbook 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!
How do Bees Produce our Food?
Students explore how bees help produce many of the foods we eat by learning about the relationship between bees and plants and the basic parts of a flower involved in pollination and fruit production.
grades:
2
-
5
time:
2-4 class periods
science concepts:
adaptations, symbiosis, ecology
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!
Kombucha: Microbial Communities & Symbiosis
Students will explore microbial communities and the symbiotic relationship between yeast and bacteria in kombucha.
grades:
9
-
12
time:
2 class periods (~2 weeks fermentation time)
science concepts:
fermentation, symbiosis, microbes, cycling of matter, ecosystems
Get a taste for the lesson!
Pancakes & Baking Soda: Chemical Reactions & Limiting Reactants
Students will explore the chemical reaction behind baking soda in pancakes and the importance of ratios in chemical reactions.
grades:
9
-
10
time:
2 class periods
science concepts:
chemical reactions, limiting reactants, theoretical & percent yield
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
Get a taste for the lesson!
Apple Varieties: Genes, Predicting Traits, & More
Learn about different apple varieties, what features breeders and scientists consider most important, and how both genotype and environmental factors impact these features.
grades:
9
-
10
time:
1-2 class periods
science concepts:
genetics
Get a taste for the lesson!
Brown Butter Pumpkin Cookies: Comparingn Baking Soda and Baking Powder
Make pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies to explore the science behind baking soda, moisture, & the Maillard Reaction.
grades:
7
-
9
time:
1-2 class periods
science concepts:
chemical changes, chemical reactions, physical changes