Session 4 at Parkmont was a perfect opportunity to reintroduce the Food Science Main Lesson to our middle schoolers. The class was focused on how the food we eat affects our health and the wellbeing of the planet. Students got to experiment with food, cook food, grow food, and even create their own cookbook!
Florence told me a bit about what academic skills were included in Food Science. Students studied nutrients, food labels and food pyramids. They delved into nutrition and health. They spent some time on the chemistry of food. By the end of the session, these lucky middle schoolers knew what foods were good for humans and the earth, and even knew which were delicious and which were not! Students kept journals tracking food they ate and food they cooked. Some of the journal prompts were more creative (e.g. “Draw the food and create nutrition labels for it.”); others asked them to report on readings.
The class was a great opportunity for immersive learning, a favorite in the Parkmont curriculum. In addition to growing and cooking food and observing their own food intake, students conducted a calories lab (which included the chance to burn food!) and learned to churn butter.
There were weekly field trips as well! Field trips included visiting a bakery, an indoor farm, a fish hatchery, and a dairy farm. Ivan reported that while visiting the dairy farm, he learned “all about the milking process. Cows can step into the machine whenever they want to be milked instead of us forcing our schedule on them. Dairy cows are bred to produce more milk than their calves need. So the farm sends some milk to their calves and the rest is pasteurized and sold.”
Florence said, “It was the best main lesson I’ve taught. It was a good balance of hands-on projects and learning to take notes and practice writing skills with the journaling. The kids had fun.” Seventh grader Wesley agreed. “There were many hands-on projects and field trips which made it really fun and interesting,” he explained. “I learn more by doing projects with my hands, and I can get more focused. There are real-life examples instead of only reading about it.”
Meeting the baby cows at the creamery may have been the top highlight for all the students. Wesley told us that “we got to interact with them, and it helped us understand what farmers do!” Isla reported, “We got to play with baby cows! They were really cute!” Hopefully Florence will offer this class to other teachers and parents instead of just the students next year! ; )