What would you use from the Upper Secondary to Enrich the Lower Secondary?

We feel that we can use the investigative segment of the upper secondary coursework to enrich the lower secondary students. This is especially relevant in a practical lesson context. Apart from just cooking and baking, we want the students to learn and understand the science behind it.

For instance, instead of a usual cupcake-baking practical lesson in a lower secondary class, students will have to investigate which is the "best" flour to use to achieve the desired cupcake in terms of texture, flavour, aroma, etc. So the students will be split into different groups where they will bake their cupcakes with their assigned flour type. And towards the end of the class, the students will get to observe and taste the cupcakes made with the different variations of flour and decide which is the best flour to use to get that desired cupcake characteristics. We should not only limit the variable to the different types of flour, for example, we can vary the cooking time, amount of milk, amount of eggs, type of fat etc.

At the end of the lesson, students can present their product in this manner so they can observe the differences and draw conclusion.

Cr: http://time.com/3179770/the-science-behind-baking-the-most-delicious-cookie-ever/

We feel that by bringing the investigative lessons in for the lower secondary students will spark their interest and increase their curiosity towards food science. This will show the students that there are actually a lot of science behind cooking and how they can actually improve their dishes by looking into the ingredients they use or the cooking process. Students will be able to modify recipes according to what is desired. Eg. they may notice that by using oil instead of butter will give a more moist texture for cakes. This will enrich their learning experience in the kitchen.