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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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

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