Erin Mendelson
WHEELER MIDDLE SCHOOL

Science of Food Safety: Grades 9-12

Sat, Nov 17, 2012 3:56 PM
4 Cs

The SciGuide titled Science of Food Safety has several informative links to great resources for developing a lesson plan. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has silly videos that could be used to introduce the 4Cs of food safety. Each video features a hyperbole of the maxims to clean, separate, cook and chill. The Iowa State University site offered a YUCK section with images of live bacteria cultures sampled from actual kitchens and eateries. The fast food lesson that teaches best practices for workers is relevant for many high school students who may consider afterschool or summer jobs. I would have liked to see a lesson plan the allows students to research and explore the flow of food from the farm to table. Many students do not see a connection or the importance of farms in their everyday lives. Many students do not even know what a carrot, tomato or onion plant looks like. I think teaching about the use of antibiotics, organic vs. nonorganic, and the conditions of animal farms ties into food safety. I may have my students create a flow map that follows a certain food product from farm to table.

Living and Working in Space: Habitat

Sun, Apr 29, 2012 6:51 PM
Field Trip to the Moon

NASA's Field Trip to the Moon program is inspiring. Students solve and develop on plan to land and build a sustainable habitat on the moon. Students will find solutions to such problems as the lack of oxygen and water, the need to produce food, and medical needs. Students will be wrapped up in this hypothetical situation and incorporate their book knowledge to create a plan. This program requires real life skills of negotiation, team work, brainstorming, experimenting and presenting. I look forward to building this program into my curriculum map next year.

Resources and Human Impact: Grades 5-8

Sun, Nov 20, 2011 3:59 PM
Great Student Sites

This Sci Guide had terrific interactive student games. I particularly likes Analyzing an Ecosystem where students would click on biotic and biotic factors. The students articles also provided great printable sources of information geared towards middle school readers. The lesson plan that takes students outside of the classroom to examine a small patch of land is easy to conduct and refreshing for students. The PBS lesson on how long it takes to double the world's population came with great pdf files. It was overwhelming; I would jigsaw the lesson so that each group shares their information with the class to be combined to a grand total. The PBS site had other great links!