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.

The design process is a tool that helps students (and designers) break down large projects into smaller, easier-to-manage stages. Students are given a design brief which identifies a problem or area of need and they work through the design process to research, create, prototype and evaluate a solution. This Strawberry Food Design task requires students to create a simple yet tasty recipe using strawberries to get consumers to buy more fresh strawberries to help farmers cope with the despair over excess waste, mass dumping and devastating price reductions due to unforeseen weather conditions, supermarket size requirements and the continued effects from the COVID lockdowns. Students are given a design situation and design brief. They are required to pull it apart to fully understand what they need to do and then work through the design process steps to produce a strawberry recipe and prototype that meets the design brief. This task can be used as a stand alone task or embedded into a food design unit.

The design process is a tool that helps students (and designers) break down large projects into smaller, easier-to-manage stages. Students are given a design brief which identifies a problem or area of need and they work through the design process to research, create, prototype and evaluate a solution. This Cadbury Chocolate Bar task requires students to create a new flavour of chocolate bar to market to teenagers. Students are given the design brief, are required to pull it apart to fully understand what they need to do and then work through the design process steps to produce a chocolate bar that meets the design brief. This task can be used as a stand alone task or embedded into a food design unit.

Needing a textiles task for a casual lesson, end of term filler or homework task? This Fabric & Textiles Online worksheet provides students with a range of questions and is divided into 3 components. The first part asks students to research types of textiles and fibres; the second part has students researching fabric types and their properties; and the third part examines apparel, clothing, customs and traditions related to cloth, how status impacts what people wear, colour significance and fashion. Students are provided with a list of recommended websites to help them get started with their research but are also required to locate appropriate sources to help them find answers to the remaining questions.

This Guess the Textiles Item game is similar to the traditional Celebrity Heads game. Select two students to step up in front of the board. Shuffle the textiles items cards and pick two at random. Stick the cards up on the board above the students head so the class can see them. The selected students take it in turns asking YES/NO questions to the class to unravel the identity of their textiles item. The student who guesses their textile item first correctly wins the game! Included in the PDF is: Instructions 40 cards Print and laminate the cards to re-use them again and again!

Swing tags are attached to textile items, most often clothing. They contain important information about the product and reflect the brand. Care labels are sewn into textile items and provide the buyer with information on how to ‘care’ for that item (wash, dry, iron). There are 5 internationally recognised care symbols which provide an alternative to the written care instructions. This worksheet provides students with a care symbols reference sheet as well as images of care tags for students to examine and determine how the textile item should be cared for. Students are given the chance to draw appropriate care symbols based on a provided written label and design their own swing tag based on a piece of clothing they have made or will make in their textiles/art lesson.