The
potential impact of computers on education is gaining worldwide recognition. The
use of ICT acts as stimuli for students be engaged in lessons. In context of
Home Economics there are many web resources that we as teachers could use in
our teachings. Here are two examples of web resources that could be used to
enhance the teaching of Food Consumer Education and Food and Nutrition.
Food Consumer Education
Topic:
Balanced Diet, Nutrients in Food and Food Choices
Resource: http://focos.hpb.gov.sg/eservices/RecipeAnalysis/RecipeAnalysis.aspx
In
the topic Food Choices, students are taught on how they should modify meals,
based on their assumptions of the ingredients in the dish. As this topic comes
after nutrients in food, students are well aware of the different types of
nutrients. Thus with this pre-requisite knowledge, we can carry out an activity
called Recipe Analysis. In this activity, students can make use of the Recipe
Analysis software to make nutritionally evaluate and modify a dish. This lesson
has to be conducted in a computer laboratory as students will have to make use of
a the ‘Recipe Analysis’ software (www.hpb.gov.sg > ‘Health tools’ >
Recipe Analysis’)
It
is recommended that the teacher picks a few recipes from the text book students
use for recipe analysis and let them choose between among the selected recipes.
The purpose of this is so that when marking the Recipe Analysis, it would be
easier for to check answers as opposed to a recipe that is unfamiliar with the
teacher. The rationale of picking a few recipes is to provide students with the
autonomy to choose from the selected recipes so that they do not feel
restricted.
Students
will be provided with a soft copy of the Recipe Analysis table as follows and
they will be guided on how to fill it:
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Ingredient
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Energy
(kcal)
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Protein
(g)
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Total Fat
(g)
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Carbohydrate
(g)
|
Dietary Fibre (g)
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Total (per serving)
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Table
1: Food Composition Records (www.hpb.gov.sg)
Students
can be instructed to go to the health promotion board (hpb.gov.sg) website and
be guided on a step by step process as follows on how
to perform the Recipe Analysis:
Before
students perform their own recipes the following tips could be given to them:
- Simplify the recipe name if it is too long (you can edit it later, after the copy & paste step)
- Enter the MAIN keyword of the ingredient and click “Matches ANY Words or Close Matches” **Note: There may be multiple names for an ingredient**
- Go to google/yahoo to search for ingredients that are not familiar to you and compare between what is in your recipe and what is available in the database
- Find a similar substitute if the ingredient that you are looking for is not available
- For the quantity, please provide whole numbers (with decimals if needed). If a certain unit of measurement is not available, you will need to convert / estimate accordingly
- Choose the cooking method according to what is stated in the recipe. If it is not possible, choose the best fit / only option given.
After students have completed their Recipe Analysis, they could answer a few questions at the end of the worksheet to test their understanding and application of previously taught topics (Balanced Diet, Nutrients in Food and Food Choices)
- Based
on the values recorded in the table of Recipe Analysis, which nutrient needs to be reduced? Why?
- Based
on the values recorded in ‘Table 1’ and with reference to the cooking
method stated in the Textbook, suggest THREE modifications that will help make the burger healthier.
Explain why you made the suggestion.
- If
your RDA for energy is 2200 kcal, how many burgers can you eat, without
exceeding the RDA? Show your workings.
- What
can you serve the recipe you analysed (i.e. burger) with to make it a
balanced meal suitable for lunch?
This
exercise is flexible as it could be done via e learning where students perform
self-directed learning with access to a step by step guide of how to perform
the Recipe Analysis. Or, as stated earlier, they could do this in the computer
laboratory with the facilitation of the teacher. While students perform this
exercise, the teacher could also inform students that familiarising themselves
with the Recipe Analysis tool will be highly beneficial should they move on to
take Food and Nutrition in upper secondary as they will be required to analyse
the recipes that they select for their coursework. Otherwise, the teacher can inform
students that the use of the recipe analysis can be beneficial for personal use
if we wanted to know the exact break down of the food that we were consuming.
This could be informed to students either at the start of the lesson or at the
end. As illustrated above, this activity is recommended for lower secondary
students, nevertheless it could be tweaked to be made more challenging and be
given to Secondary three students who have just begun the course of Food and
Nutrition. It could serve as a form of revision for the lower secondary
syllabus and at the same time familiarize them to the Recipe Analysis software.
Food and Nutrition
Topic:
Digestion
Web
Resource: http://kitses.com/animation/swfs/digestion.swf
In
the teaching of Food and Nutrition, digestion is a common topic of which
students face difficulty in as they find it hard to remember the process flow
that occurs during digestion. Many teachers, show videos to students to
improve their understanding, however, it is still highly likely that what has
been taught is not registered in long-term-memory thus students are still bound
to forget the theory behind digestion. The following web source: http://kitses.com/animation/swfs/digestion.swf
shows how digestion of different types of food rich in different nutrients are
digested in a step by step process. The purpose of recommending this website to
students is so that so that students can familiarize themselves with the
different organs involved in the process of the digestion by just hovering the
mouse over the human body. Moreover, with reference to image below, students
get to pick the food they wish to be digested and the differences in digestion
based on the nutritional composition of the food.
As soon as a
food product is clicked, the basic nutrients in the food is illustrated in a
pop-up as shown in the example below.
Digestion of the food selected is illustrated in an animated version with pauses where students can take their time to zoom in the process and visualize what is occurring at their own pace.
The
explanations provided at each stage of digestion in this web source is not
sufficient as for example, the students are required to know the different
digestive enzymes in action which is not stated in the source. Nevertheless the
use of this web source is still recommended as this is only meant for use after
a formal lesson of teaching digestion and it could be used as revision tool
where an activity could be carried out with students where they can list the
missing information at each stage. Alternatively, before lesson delivery of digestion,
the teacher could allow students to engage themselves in this web source and
continue her lesson by filling them in with the details. This web source could
be used for illustration purpose and/or for students to make use of in a
computer laboratory as well. I hope you find these resources useful for yourselves. Feel free to drop a comment on what you think and share if you have even better suggestions.
Till then its,
Devi signing off ✿✿
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