Specialising in Technological and Applied Studies, with a focus on Food Technology, Hospitality and Textiles, all resources have been tried and tested in my classroom over the past 10 years. I have also tutored numerous students in a wide range of subjects and have developed a range of resources to assist in their learning. Any resource that I have created that has helped me help my students will be added to my shop so that I can help you, help your students.
Specialising in Technological and Applied Studies, with a focus on Food Technology, Hospitality and Textiles, all resources have been tried and tested in my classroom over the past 10 years. I have also tutored numerous students in a wide range of subjects and have developed a range of resources to assist in their learning. Any resource that I have created that has helped me help my students will be added to my shop so that I can help you, help your students.
School and Faculty budgeting doesn’t always allow for an expensive online food management and ordering system to be used for practical cooking subjects. Especially if it’s a small to one teacher subject area. This Food Order MS EXCEL System folder provides the answer to those time consuming manual food orders.
Download and unzip the folder to access an instruction sheet on where/how to save the food orders to a shared drive on the faculty computer system, instructions on how to use the MS EXCEL food ordering spreadsheet, an example of the Food Order spreadsheet in use, the Food Order Template spreadsheet (for you to SAVE AS and then fill in with your recipe quantities), instructions on how to use the MS EXCEL Food Order Summary spreadsheet, a Food Order Summary spreadsheet example, the Food Order Summary Spreadsheet Template and a MS Word shopping list template.
All you need to do is add your recipe quantities to the DEMONSTRATION side of the Food Order spreadsheet and the formulas do all the calculations for you to convert the recipe from 2 serves to however many you need for your class! To adjust the formulas or number of serves required for the whole class, follow the instructions on the Food Order Template Instructions document. Once you’ve created a new food order for each recipe needed for all your classes for the week, input the whole class quantities into the Food Order Summary spreadsheet for the instant calculations required for the shopping list. Check your current stock levels in the pantry, cool room and freezer and only add what is needed for purchase onto the Shopping List. Put in your online shopping order or visit the local supermarket to purchase the necessary ingredients and you’re ready for the next week ahead!
Once you’ve saved all your recipes onto separate food order spreadsheets, it’s super quick an easy to adjust the whole class quantities year after year after year; taking hours of work down to less than half an hour! 5 minutes tops to sort class quantities and the rest of the time to check stock and put in a shopping order (depending on how organised your storage areas are it might even take you less than half an hour!)
Needing a great festive end of the term/end of the year Christmas cooking practical? This is a tried and true Gingerbread recipe that incorporates the lemon myrtle bush spice and works perfectly for this decorated Gingerbread AUSTRALIAN BUSH SHACK to take pride of place on the Christmas share table.
Included in this file is the bush spice gingerbread recipe and the templates for the bush shack.
Keep the cooked gingerbread pieces in an airtight container for several days if needing to separate the practical into two or more sessions.
The best way for students to use these templates is to trace them onto baking paper before cutting them out in the gingerbread, or, print a class set and laminate them for use year after year.
This Bush Shack is also a great addition to a cultural food unit and can be decorated in a more Aussie traditional, less festive way to fit in if needed.
Time management can be a tricky thing for Hospitality students to understand and develop. Practising and writing workflows is one way.
This task provides another way that gets students really thinking about each step in the recipe. Students are provided with three recipes, each portioned to one person, and the methods for each divided up on a separate page. Students need to read through each recipe and work out the order they would need to do each step for the three methods in order to be able to prepare, cook and present the entree, main and dessert at the same time.
The recipes and individual steps can be laminated for re-use by the class/student later in the course or used with another cohort. Students can also be provided print outs of the recipes and each divided method to cut and paste onto a blank piece of paper in the order they think it should be. The recipes are simple enough that they can be used in a practical lesson or two to really allow students to know if they’ve got all their steps in the correct order or if they’ve made a mistake somewhere!
What is Military, Business Casual and Bohemian style clothing? What was the fashion like in the 1920’s, 60’s and early 2000’s?
This worksheet provides students with a range of 6 clothing styles and 12 consecutive decades to research. Students are provided with a link to a specific website that discusses the identifying features, essential items, fabrics used, fabric care instructions and popular colours and accessories of each clothing style and decade identified on the worksheet. Students need to locate the appropriate information and rewrite it into their own words on the worksheet. This is a great filler lesson.
Along with hygiene, cleanliness and preventing cross-contamination when working in the kitchen; another essential aspect for students to understand is the danger zone and how long high-risk foods can be out safely in this temperature range before bacteria multiply to high enough levels for form a food poisoning risk.
This pack contains 3 important Food Safety posters, displaying the following concepts:
The Temperature Danger Zone - the specific temperatures that form the highest risk, where to keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold, and what happens to the bacteria in each temperature zone
The 2hr 4hr Rule - showing how long potentially high-risk foods can be out of their appropriate storage conditions and in the danger zone, and what needs to happen with the food at each stage
The Rate of Bacteria Replication and Growth - bacteria multiply every 20minutes! This poster shows students how many bacteria there would be every 20minutes until 4hrs and then after 6hrs, 9hrs and 12hrs. It shows the number if there was only one teeny tiny bacteria and if there was 1000 bacteria in our food before it was left out in the danger zone. This poster will get students thinking ‘I wonder how many bacteria are actually in my food before I start cooking with it…’
These posters can be laminated and displayed around the classroom or kitchen; or provided to students to assist with revision or developing an understanding of these important food safety concepts. A student who understands the importance of keeping food out of the danger zone is one who will keep their customers safe when working in the commercial kitchen.
One of the most important aspects of working in any kitchen is knowing how to reduce waste because not only does it help the profit margin but it also helps the environment.
This comprehension task takes an article from a Hospitality industry magazine and demonstrates how several Australian pioneering chefs are leading the way for reducing food waste in their restaurants. This task will help students develop their understanding of the Source and Use Information on the Hospitality Industry unit of competency.
This is a great homework task after a sustainability lesson or as part of a casual/relief lesson.
Have you seen an uptake of students consuming energy drinks as their main form of everyday beverage? The energy drink market has seen unprecedented growth over the last 10 years and their popularity is continuing to grow, especially in our youth and adolescents.
While there may be some positives to consuming the occasional energy drink, there are many short and long term health effects including addiction, anxiety, dehydration, fertility and heart issues.
This poster provides an easy to read outline of some of the most major impacts energy drinks have on the human body. It includes the definition of an energy drink (in case your students like to argue why their energy drink isn’t an energy drink or isn’t bad for them!) as well as a QR code students can scan to view a cool, short, free YouTube video on ‘What if you only drank energy drinks?’ by the team from AsapScience whose aim is to make science make sense.
The inspiration behind the creation of this poster came when one of my 15 year old students had a full-on meltdown and screamed it was the only thing she has to drink today and I was stopping her from hydrating (conveniently forgetting the cool filtered bubblers outside and the fact she’d just come in from break) because I asked her to tip her (just opened) large can of V down the sink because energy drinks are banned at our school (which she already knew!).
For our students to live long and happy lives, we need to help them understand the importance of looking after their bodies (including what they put into it), and minimising their intake of energy drinks is one aspect we can help educate them on.
Needing a great festive end of the term/end of the year (depending on which hemisphere you are in!) Christmas cooking practical? This is a tried and true, family tested recipe that works perfectly for a decorated Gingerbread House to take pride of place on the Christmas table. Included in this file is the gingerbread recipe and the templates for a MINI Gingerbread House, COSY Gingerbread Cottage and a LARGE Gingerbread House.
Keep the cooked gingerbread pieces in an airtight container for several days if needing to separate the practical into two or more sessions.
The best way for students to use these templates is to trace them onto baking paper before cutting them out in the gingerbread, or, print a class set and laminate them for use year after year.
A major factor in any Vocational Education Training (VET) Hospitality course is the practical cooking component and the necessity to match appropriate recipes, skills and techniques to the Units of Competency covered throughout the course.
This is a tried and tested Hospitality cookery recipe book with well over 120 recipes matched to units for the full Hospitality Kitchen Operations training package. Each recipe provides:
a list of techniques covered
portions
clean up checklist
recommended garnishes
workflow templates
Recipes are designed for one to two students maximum to ensure each member of the class is attempting each of the skills and techniques required.
The introduction of the recipe book also supplies:
a recommended way ‘Set Up Your Workstation’ diagram
information on measuring
oven temperature conversions
description on the most effective way to clean and sanitise benchtops
precision cuts and practice template
meat doneness
as well as the contents pages which lists each recipe and the techniques covered
The back of the recipe book provides:
Hospitality MasterChef Challenge lesson
MasterChef score sheet
Practical course feedback survey
One of the most important aspects of working in any kitchen is being on the lookout for and reducing the possibility of hazards. This comprehension task takes an article from an Australian news website about yet another Melbourne Food Manufacturer/Restaurant failing in their duties to keep a worker safe and asks students to describe how the incident occurred, explain the employee and employer responsibilities when it comes to risks and discuss the consequences. This is a great homework task after a safety lesson or as part of a casual/relief lesson.
Sometimes understanding the task words / HSC key terms in questions and knowing exactly what is required to answer the question can be a tricky thing for students to grasp. This task uses confectionery, chocolate and/or lollies (images or actual products) to demonstrate this.
There are two components - an individual/pair task and a class task. You have the choice to use one or both tasks to develop their understanding of the terms. For the individual/pair task, provide students with a small chocolate bar each and use it to answer each of the questions, such as DESCRIBE the taste of the chocolate bar. Stimulus material incorporating the definitions of each task word, example ingredient lists, the process of making chocolate, descriptive sensory words and an article on the health implications of chocolate are provided to assist students with the more in depth questions that require additional research/knowledge.
For the class task, use and display the images on each slide of the PowerPoint presentation to complete the tasks, such as IDENTIFY this item and PROPOSE the introduction of this confectionery at the school canteen. There is a confectionery list and an estimated price list if you would prefer to use the actual products for this component.
Task Words/HSC Key Terms include:
identify
define
describe
explain
discuss
propose
justify
outline
compare
evaluate
account
recommend
analyse
Food is one of the key aspects to understanding culture. It helps us identify where we are from and why and how we eat the foods we do. Today there are so many multicultural societies and foods that we have access to that have their origins in historical and traditional cultures. This can be contributed to cuisines borrowing traditional ingredients and methods from other cultures and incorporating them into our modern meals.
This task provides students with a list of traditional foods and ingredients categorised into staple & grains, fruit & vegetables, meat & proteins, spices & herbs, and beverages consumed by the AZTECs, Ancient Egyptians, Ancient Greeks and Ancient Roman peoples. Students select a range of items to create a 3 course meal that they would want to eat if they were transported back to that particular era. There is also a short video clip associated with each culture to help students understand the type and styles of food eaten. Students then need to justify why they chose the particular foods/ingredients they’ve put into their 3 course meal, explain how the style of food differs from ours nowadays as well as identify which of the foods/ingredients they would or could incorporate into their daily diets.
This is a great filler task for the end of a lesson or used as a homework task. Students can be tasked with creating a 3 course meal for each of the historical societies OR given the choice to select and complete a 3 course meal on one of the historical societies.
Sometimes students just don’t understand the importance of washing their hands to stop bacterial transfer and cross-contamination when cooking. This hand hygiene experiment is a great way to physically show them the outcomes. It only takes a couple of pieces of bread, some Ziploc/sealable bags, time and of course, the observation sheet!
Food poisoning is any illness caused by eating food or drink that is contaminated with certain types of bacteria, viruses or toxins and the symptoms can vary from mild to severe.
This task provides students with background information on food poisoning, how to tell if they have had food poisoning as well as steps to keep themselves safe from it. Students are then required to pick one of the food poisoning bacteria listed in the task and research the specific causes, symptoms and treatment for that particular food poisoning pathogen. There is a scaffold provided and students can present their newfound knowledge in the form of a fact sheet.
To finish off the task, there are four every day type scenarios provided. Students read through each scenario to identify the food safety and hygiene rules that have been broken and explain what each person in the scenario should have done instead to protect themselves from getting poisoned by their food.
This is a great task to do with junior Food Technology/Family and Consumer Science students as it breaks down the complicated food poisoning pathogens phonetically and has the background information in an easy to read manner.
Needing some textiles room organisation inspiration? Look no further than this poster. It provides an example of an individual teacher trolley - so no missing resources shared between colleagues and no leaving smaller items in the room for anyone to access! Simply organise your own trolley, store it next to your desk in the staffroom and wheel it into your textiles room when needed.
One of the most important aspects of working in any kitchen is being on the lookout for and reducing the possibility of hazards. This comprehension task takes an article from an Australian news website about a Melbourne Restaurant failing in their duties to keep a worker safe and asks students to describe how the incident occurred, explain the employee and employer responsibilities when it comes to risks and discuss the consequences. This is a great homework task after a safety lesson or as part of a casual/relief lesson.
This Kitchen Equipment BINGO set of cards is a great start of the term, end of the term and all round revision activity to help reinforce kitchen terminology. It comes with a Bingo Caller Card (print 2 copies!) and 18 different student playing cards. Laminate for re-use.
The functional properties of food describes how ingredients behave during preparation and cooking; and how the finished product is affected in terms of how it looks, tastes and feels.
This Functional Properties of Food task consists of a match-up activity where students are required to match the term to its definition (cut and laminate for re-use or provide copies to students to take home), and an extension worksheet where students are required to include the definition but add examples of the functional property as well as the factors that affect it. This extension worksheet is a great optional activity for those more advanced students or can be used as a homework task.
This task is a great revision activity to determine how well students are understanding the content covered in class or used for revision in the lead up to exams and assessments. Answers are included.
Food-borne illness affects many hundreds of people throughout the world each year and is often caused by pathogenic bacteria, viruses or toxins in food. This research task gets students to select and research a food-borne pathogen. A graphic organiser and task list is supplied to help them organise their information and they can let their creativity surface by producing their newfound knowledge in the form of a ‘wanted poster’ and presentation.
This is a great end of term filler task or a casual/relief lesson as the task can be divided up so students only produce the wanted poster or the presentation depending on the length of class time available. It can also be used as a summative assessment tool due to the inclusion of a marking/grading rubric and an example of the wanted poster.
A skill requirement for Vocational Studies - Hospitality Cookery students is being able to detect deficiencies in foods based on issues such as temperature danger zones, storage principles and safe food handling in order to ensure the best, highest quality menu items are served to customers.
This activity has 32 flashcards each with a different photo showing a poor handling/food issue. Students are to use their knowledge of how to maintain the quality of food items to identify the issue in each flashcard. As an extension task for students to further demonstrate their understanding, students are to explain what could happen if each issue was allowed to happen in a commercial kitchen as well as describing the effects on the business, food handler and customer.
Download includes the Flashcards, Extension Worksheet and Answers for the flashcards.