Vincent's Assignment on F&N Web Resources

Interactive Digestion Animation

http://kitses.com/animation/swfs/digestion.swf

 

 

 

The above web resource is actually an interactive flash player which simulates the digestion of different kinds of food in a cartoon form. Students are able to choose foods such as apple, cake, fish or ice cream to begin the digestion simulation. It is good that a range of foods are provided so that the stimulation can show the digestion of the 3 main macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats and proteins).

This web resource will be very useful in the initial teaching stage of the topic on digestion. As the digestion process can be quite dry and difficult for students to understand, therefore for the introduction of this topic, students can be brought to the computer lab to have a hands-on session by exploring the website animation so as to have a good first impression of digestion. Students will be interested as the animations used are cute and in a cartoon form with sound effects. Being an animation, it is easier for students to understand the digestion process from the mouth right down to the anus and all the body parts involved in digestion is clearly depicted.

However, one drawback of this resource is that it did not state the exact name of the enzymes used in the digestion, instead it uses terms such as ‘digestive juice’, which can be quite vague. Therefore this web resource can only be used to arouse student’s interest in digestion before the start of proper lesson. After ‘playing’ with the digestion simulation, students will have some prior knowledge about the digestion process and the teacher will find it easier to teach digestion in detail as the web resource already covered the broad idea of digestion.

Kitchen Health and Safety Game

http://www.sensoryworld.org/kitchen_hygiene.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

The above web resource is an interactive game which shows a kitchen with different hygiene violations. Students are supposed to spot these safety issues and click on the violation observed in the kitchen (for instance an uncovered food left on the kitchen table). There are a total of 15 violations in the kitchen and when each violation is clicked, the correct hygiene measure will be shown in pictorial animations.

This web resource will be useful in recapping student’s knowledge on keeping the kitchen clean and hygienic after teaching the topic. The teacher can open the web resource in class and let students participate by pointing out the various violations they spotted. After each violation is spotted, the teacher can further explain the consequences of the hygiene lapses or even pose more questions or ask the students for their explanation to check on their understanding. Students will be more interested in this method of recapping knowledge as there is an interactive kitchen for them to observe, rather than the teacher just asking the students some questions to check on their understanding after the kitchen hygiene lesson. One of the disadvantages of this web resource is that some of the violations may not be very easy to observe as the picture might be very small (e.g. expiry date of food item), thus it will be good if the teacher can drop some hints to prompt the students.

 Home Baking Association

http://www.homebaking.org/index.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The web resource is a website which covers multi aspects of baking, such as baking recipes, safety precautions in baking. They even have lesson plans and lecture notes on topics such as ‘why bake?’, ‘tips for baking’ and even ‘keeping food safe’. The website also features several videos on baking.

This web resource is very useful for both teachers and students.  This is because baking lessons are inevitable in Food and Nutrition coursework/practical, thus teachers will have to expose the students to baking as well as teaching them the skills of different cakes, cookies and pastries.

Firstly, the teacher can use the resource to explain the kitchen safety issues to the student with regards to baking, this is especially important before the baking lessons start whereby the students should be briefed about the Dos and Don’ts on baking safety. Secondly, both students and teachers can also use the website to search for interesting recipes, which is useful for the meal planning coursework. Thirdly, the video will come in very handy when students forgot about the making of certain pastries or even bread which might involved many steps, therefore they can view the demo video to refresh or familiarise themselves. Fourthly, other than baking tips, the website also includes general food knowledge such as the FAD diet myths, wheat facts and gluten in the diet, these are important facts which are not in the textbook whereby teachers can share them with the students.  Fifthly, the website also contains useful notes and slides on handwashing, reasons for baking and tips for successful baking, which may not be found in the textbook.

However, the teacher will need to exercise precautions when using the informatiom on the web resource. The information should be sieved and verified to ensure that they are acuurate and suitable for the target students. If possible, teachers should also try out the recipe as who knows that the interesting recipe might not work?! Most of the resources are linked to baking so it will be very hard for teachers to use the resource for other methods of cooking.