Subject: Food and Consumer Education
Topic: Money and Resource Management
Web Resource: TheMint.org http://www.themint.org/
Explanation:
I would recommend the use of this website when teaching topics under Consumer Studies. The website provides wide range of tools to help educators teach children and teenagers how to manage money wisely and develop good financial habit: the building blocks for a secure future. It contains many activities that are ideal for teachers to illustrate sound money management concepts and it would be a very fun and interactive way for students to learn about all the things people do with money: earning, saving, spending, tracking, investing, and safeguarding.
Specifically, for the part on Money and Resource Management in the syllabus, I will use the ‘Determining Your Budget’ page found on the website to enrich my lesson. After teaching my students Budgeting, they have to put their skills into use and apply it in a real-life situation to ensure they see the relevance which will make learning meaningful. The page allows users to input their income and plan their budget accordingly. I will have the students to work out a budget plan based on an assigned annual income. Students will have to decide for themselves how much money they wish to save, how much money they will have to spend on transportation, entertainment etc. Through this budgeting activity, they would be able to identify and be aware of the different aspects that they have to consider when managing their finances.
However, there is a down side to this website, as it is based in the United States, there are certain areas of the ‘Determining Your Budget’ page that will not apply in the Singapore context, particularly, the deduction of tax and also the interest rates of the saving accounts. But overall, it is still a good tool for students to practice budgeting and have an idea of the factors they have to consider when planning a budget. It is also more interactive and interesting for the students compared to the conventional paper and pen approach of planning a budget.
In addition, there are many other tools and games on the website that will enhance and enrich the learning of consumer studies. For instance, there are articles and quizzes on differentiating needs and wants and smart shopping, I feel that it is a very good resource for self-directed learning. I will encourage my students to visit the website prior to my lessons so that they will be better prepared when they come to class and this will also encourage them to be more responsible for their own learning.
Subject: Food and Nutrition
Topic: Meal Planning
Web Resource: Health Promotion Board http://www.hpb.gov.sg/HOPPortal/
Explanation:
I would strongly recommend my Food and Nutrition students to visit the Health Promotion Board (HPB) website to aid them in the completion of their assignments and coursework. There are many educational materials made available on the website, as well as many useful resources and tools.
Under the ‘Resources’ tab, you can find ‘Educational materials’ where the most updated nutrition-related information and educational materials like brochures and handouts are easily accessible. You will able to find the most credible details of ‘My Healthy Plate’ and online educational booklets such as ‘Salt, less is best’, ‘Do you have high blood pressure?’ and ‘Have you eaten 2 servings of fruit and 2 servings of vegetables today?’.
Also under the ‘Resources’ tab, they have a link to ‘Games & Tools’ where a wide range of nutritional tools can be found. I would like to highlight two of them:
1. Energy and Nutrient Composition of Food
2. Food Intake Assessment
1. Energy and Nutrient Composition of Food
Using this nutritional tool, students are able to find out the nutrient contents of different food based on their respective serving sizes – all macro and micronutrients. It is a good tool when looking up local one-dish meals as the database is Singapore-based, unlike other soft wares that are based in other countries, for instance, FoodWorks that is based in Australia.
2. Food Intake Assessment
This nutritional tool is similar to the Energy and Nutrient Composition of Food, but students can use it to analyze their meal plans. Instead of just analyzing a particular food item or dish, this tool will help students to analyze meals of the entire day and compare it to the recommended daily allowance based on the nutritional requirements of the target individual and make recommendations on how the students can improve on their meal plans.
I feel that the HPB website has very comprehensive information on the health-related issues, so I would encourage my students to visit it frequently to keep themselves up to date and also make good use of the extensive nutritional tools HPB provide to help them with their assignments and coursework.
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