Lesson Plan Originally Created By:
nancie wilson
Improve A Recipe Project
Part of Unit: Culinary Nutrition and Food Science
Lesson Plan Overview / Details
Students will begin to learn how to analyze existing recipes and substitute ingredients as well as modify cooking methods in order to make the original recipe healthier.
Lesson Time
- 2 class periods
- 120 Minutes
Standards
California Career and Technical Education Standards
Objectives
- Students will be introduced to the idea that existing recipes can be modified so that the recipes provide better nutrition.
- Students will understand that this lesson includes an example of the kind of lab activities they will participate in while progressing through this course.
- Students will be able to recognize the basic components of a recipe and observe a cooking demonstration.
- Students will reflect on the information presented in the class and be able to identify ingredients in a recipe that can be modified to improve nutrition.
- Students will be introduced to an evaluation activity and be able to write a reflection demonstrating that they learned how to compare the results of new and original recipe products.
I have been using this lesson on the first day of class for several years and I find that giving the students a defined task at the beginning helps them work through the first day jitters and the awkwardness of not knowing each other and my classroom expectations.
Activities in this Lesson
- Anticipatory Set "It smells good in here!" - Hooks / Set
Students smell cookies baking when they enter the classroom. I am wearing a science lab coat as I greet students and assist them in finding their assigned seats A recipe for chocolate chip cookies is displayed on the screen and students are instructed to copy the recipe on their own binder paper. (It is assumed that students will have school supplies with them in their backpacks and having a writing task sets the stage for understanding that they need to be prepared everyday with paper and a writing instrument.)
- Evaluating a Recipe - Lecture
.I take roll as students are copying the original recipe. I then explain to the class that one of the outcomes that they will have at the end of the course is how to evaluate the nutritional content of a recipe and how to improve a recipe so that it is a healthier alternative to the original. Depending on the time available, this can then lead into a class discussion of why we may want to know about the nutrition content of the foods we eat, now and in the future.
- Basic Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe.doc [ Download ]
- Demonstrating "Improved Recipe" - Demo / Modeling
I display the new improved cookie recipe changes and demonstrate the steps while making the improved cookie dough. With the addition of each ingredient I discuss with the class whether or not there might be a healthier alternative ingredient that would be an appropriate substitute. I ask for suggestions from the class.
- Changes to Basic Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe.doc [ Download ]
- Recipe Comparison - Lecture
Our final improved recipe turns out to be an oatmeal raisin cookie made with whole wheat flour, eoatmeal, egg whites, applesauce and less salt and sugar. We then compare the original cookie nutritional analysis with the new improved cookie nutritional analysis and students are invited to try one of each type of cookie.
- Taste Test and Comparison - Guided Practice
Before students taste test the cookies, they are instructed to think about and identify specific cookie characteristics that they expect to find in a cookie and the characteristics they like in a cookie. This can be in a class discussion format with the teacher offering characteristics of a good cookie. Also, appropriate descriptive terms for describing baked goods can be reviewed and students can write these words on their cookie recipe or note paper in order to refer to them when product evaluations are done in future cooking activities.
Depending on the time remaining, students can fill in a data table comparing the characteristics of the two cookies
- Characteristics of a good cookie.doc [ Download ]
- Evaluating a Recipe - Independent Practice
Using classroom cookbooks and other resources, students are instructed to choose three recipes and make three changes to each recipe that will make the recipe healthier. On their own binder paper students will title the activity:”Evaluating the Nutritional Content of Recipes and Making Healthy Recipe Changes.” They will write the title of the recipe and then list the three changes that they think will make the recipe healthier. If appropriate (students have enough knowledge) students can write the reasons that they made each change. This can be done on the 2nd day or after improved nutritional changes have been reviewed again. What were students trying to accomplish when they made the changes.(This will be done with each of three recipes.)
- Student Reflection - Closure
Students will write a personal reflection describing what they learned, explaining what they especially liked or disliked about the lesson.
Students will share their individual reflection in their table groups, and groups will choose someone to report out two to three group summary points to the class.
These reflections will be written in student journals, binders, notebooks, etc.
Assessment
- Assessment Types:
- Projects, Journals, Writing Samples, Teacher-Made Test,
Student reflections and recipe improvements will be evaluated.
Recipe improvements will be included in the culinary nutrition unit test.
An "Improve A Recipe Project" will be assigned as a final project. This includes the students improving an existing recipe, making the improved recipe in class or at home and sharing the food with the class while presenting an oral presentation describing the changes that were made and if the changes actually improved the nutritional content of the recipe. A nutritional printout of the recipe is also required.
