Food science: the perfect cup of coffee

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Suitable for 14-19-year olds (secondary and high schools, and college), this article and accompanying activity sheet can be used in the classroom, STEM clubs and at home.

This resource links to KS4 and KS5

It can also be used as a careers resource and links to Gatsby Benchmarks:

Gatsby Benchmark 2: Learning from career and labour market information
Gatsby Benchmark 4: Linking curriculum learning to careers

This teaching resource explains the work of Dr Gabriel Keith Harris who studies food science for a living at NC State University’s Food, Bioprocessing, and Nutrition Sciences department. His current work focuses on coffee: its chemical composition, flavour and shelf life, as well as the uses for coffee grounds after brewing.

This resource also contains an interview with Dr Harris.

The activity sheet provides ‘talking points’ about Dr Harris’ work and prompts students to think about the science behind other food and drink.

This resource was first published on Futurum Careers, a free online resource and magazine aimed at encouraging 14-19-year-olds worldwide to pursue careers in science, tech, engineering, maths, medicine (STEM) and social sciences, humanities and the arts for people and the economy (SHAPE).

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