The Taste Adventure is a free of charge, simple but fun activity aimed at four to 10 year olds (but loved just as much by the big kids among us) which teaches children to think about food in greater detail. Budding young taste adventurers are given a passport at the start of their inspiring journey through five interactive zones- each engaging one of our five senses- taste, touch, hearing, smell and sight. Each zone enables them to explore, interact and make new food discoveries through a series of challenges. Can they tell the difference between sweet, savoury, sour and bitter tastes? Have they ever listened to the sound that their food makes? (We’re not talking about the snap, crackle and pop of their breakfast cereal here but more the crunch of freshly baked bread or the squishy, slurpy noise when they eat cucumber). Are they brave enough to put their hand into the unknown and guess what food stuff is in the bag, using only their sense of touch?

When they successfully complete their journey through each zone, children receive a stamp on their passport, which they then take home as proof that they have successfully completed their quest.

The Taste Adventure is coming to lots of different events around the country, so be sure to keep checking out our blog for details.

The Grain Chain isn’t just a resource for Food Technology or Home Economics teachers. We have lesson plans suitable for KS3 and KS4 science teachers, technology teachers, PSHE teachers, geography teachers and ICT teachers!

Furthermore, all of our secondary school lesson plans are curriculum AND skill referenced, so you can be sure that you are teaching your class the right topics whilst improving their key abilities.

And it doesn’t stop there. Primary school teachers can also get in on the action, with drama and art based activities, fun to make recipes and easy science projects.

We’ve highlighted one of our lesson plans per age group below. All you need to do is click on the link, print out the materials and put your feet up and enjoy the bank holiday. Remember – you can find loads more lesson plans by clicking on whichever note section is relevant to the age group of your class. http://www.grainchain.com/Teachers/Default.aspx.

KS1 lesson plan suggestion

Growing wheat seeds http://www.grainchain.com/Teachers/ks1/Growing-our-food/lesson1.aspx.

This will give children a basic understanding of what seeds need in order to grow. It will also make them aware that grain produces flour which can be made into everyday foods such as bread and breakfast cereals.

Children get a chance to be a farmer and plant their own seeds. Discuss where the seeds should be kept in the classroom and explain that they will need to watch them grow over a few days. Ask them for their ideas on what might happen to the seeds. What will they need to remember to do each day?

This can then be followed up a week later with our second growing wheat seeds lesson plan, which will encourage your class to think about what has happened to their seeds and why. http://www.grainchain.com/Teachers/ks1/Growing-our-food/lesson2.aspx.

KS2 lesson plan suggestion

A healthy, balanced diet http://www.grainchain.com/Teachers/ks2/Food-for-life/lesson1.aspx

At the end of this lesson, children should be able to name all of the five food groups. They should be aware that different nutrients have different functions which help to maintain a healthy body.

Using the printable resources, run through the Eat Well plate, explaining about the different food groups and what our bodies need them for. Ask pupils to draw and label a diagram of their own creation that illustrates how much of each food group should be eaten daily to maintain a healthy, balanced diet. Bring the class back together and share some of their work, recapping the main points.

KS3 lesson plan suggestion

Making and Baking: Technology http://www.grainchain.com/Teachers/ks3/baking/Default.aspx

This lesson plan will enable students to understand and be able to describe the steps involved in baking bread on an industrial scale. It will also help them develop their survey skills and knowledge of procedures.

Work through the “technology of baking” worksheet and get students to draw a flow chart of the industrial process of baking bread. Students could also look at labels from wrapped bread. Do the labels meet the requirements of information to be given to customers? Do they give any other information? Is this extra information useful? Students could then carry out a survey in the class of the types of bread eaten and preferred. Results of the survey could be presented graphically.

KS4 lesson plan suggestion

ICT in the flour and grain industry http://www.grainchain.com/Teachers/ks4/ict/Default.aspx

This lesson plan should enable students to develop an understanding of the overall picture of ICT in the flour and grain industry. It will also build on their presentation skills.

Organise the class into groups, so that each group contains four students. Each student should research one of the following topics:

• ICT in farming and storage;
• ICT in milling;
• ICT in baking;
• ICT in retailing and marketing (process controls).

Students should then report their findings back to their groups. Each group will then prepare a presentation or report to share with the class. A class discussion on the use of ICT in the industry should then take place.

Don’t forget that we have lots more ready-made lesson plans in the teachers section of the website. http://www.grainchain.com/Teachers/Default.aspx

Against a backdrop of murals showing industrial wheat processing, artist Belle Benfield’s exhibition, PRINTSHOP includes over 200 handmade printing stamps. Students have the opportunity to get involved by printing shopping lists and supermarket signs. They can familiarise themselves with the processes and machines that go into making breadcrumbs. This exhibition will enable students to reflect on the lengthy processes that go into the production of supermarket foods as we all hunt for the lowest prices.

The exhibition is open every day from 10am to 5pm at The HUB, Navigation Wharf, Carre Street, Sleaford, NG34 7TW until 3 October 2010.

But going back to school doesn’t have to be stressful. We’ve put together some tips for teachers to help the new school year start as smoothly as possible.

If you have a limited budget, plan how you are going to spend it at the start of the new school year. Healthy yet cheap recipes include bread rolls with a seed based topping and vegetable soups which are perfect to make when the chilly winter weather sets in. We have lots of recipes on our website, including one for bread rolls – http://www.grainchain.com/Recipes/bread-rolls/, so you don’t have to trawl through cook books.

Use your practical lessons to help teach your students about food safety. We’ve got some useful tips on http://www.grainchain.com/11-to-14/fun/food-and-safety.aspx. A key point to explain, especially to younger children is to use a clean spoon when tasting food, and always wash it after every use rather than place it back into the bowl.

Want to inspire your class but not sure where to start? Why not take a look at our Inspire! winner’s ideas at www.grainchain.com/inspire. They’ve got loads of great ideas from fairground themed schemes of work to growing your own corn and wheat to visits to windmills, modern mills and bakeries.

Don’t forget to follow us on twitter to keep up to date with the latest news and to receive even more ideas and tips. Just search for GrainChain to find us. We’re also on facebook, where you can tell us your thoughts about the website and what you want to see more of.

To find out about exhibitions where you can meet the Grain Chain team and competitions that we are running, sign up online to receive the Grain Chain newsletter at http://www.grainchain.com/Teachers/newsletter.

Our Inspire! Competition finalists attended an awards ceremony at Kensington Roof Gardens on Friday 25 June where, not only were they presented with their trophies but they were also treated to an Interactive baking demonstration by celebrity baker, Paul Hollywood. One lucky student, who came as his teacher’s guest, got the chance to participate!

Our six teachers waited nervously to find out whether they had won the winner’s prize of £1500 on top of their £300 finalists award. Only one could receive the grand prize… and we are delighted to announce that Simon Ferguson from Hitchin Girls School was the lucky winner.

Simon has only been teaching food technology for one year, but he wowed the Grain Chain judges with his “floury fairground” lesson plan which bought together flour, food and all the fun of the fairground.

Students were invited to jump on the “teacup ride” to investigate different breakfasts, and to test themselves on the “white water raft”, where they experimented with gluten. The “dodgems” activity challenged students to drive forward a healthy flour based snack for a child. The scheme ended with the “waltzer” activity which saw students evaluate their work. If you would like to see Simon’s entry, plus the exciting and inspiring lesson plans from our other finalists, we will be uploading them onto grainchain.com soon. Alternatively, if you have any useful tips or ideas that other teachers could benefit from, then please send them across to the Grain Chain team at grainchain@nabim.org.uk.

Summer holidays are coming up…

We reckon you’ll want to put your feet up for the first few weeks of the summer holiday so we’re taking a break from blogging throughout July. However, if you are really keen then don’t forget that you can still follow us through Twitter at http://twitter.com/GrainChain or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/edit/?id=111828768858694#!/pages/Grain-Chain/111828768858694. Our blogs will be back at the start of August to help you get underway with lesson planning for your new class.

Plan a World Cup themed lesson

It seems like the whole world has gone football crazy, so why not treat your class to a food technology lesson with a world cup theme.

You could use our breakfast poster, which you can get your hands on by emailing grainchain@nabim.org.uk, to   teach children about the different breakfasts that are eaten around the world.

Explain that England Captain, Steven Gerrard and the lads, will most likely be eating a South African breakfast of porridge, cereal, eggs or fruit- perfect for giving them enough energy to take on the world!

England coach, Fabio Capello on the other hand may still favour his traditional Italian breakfast of coffee with milk and a bread roll with butter, jam or fruit marmalade.

If you are a food technology teacher looking for some fun practical ideas, why not cook popular flour or bread based meals that people like to eat in some of the World Cup countries? You could try creating an Italian pizza using our recipe for pizza dough which can be found at the following link www.grainchain.com/Recipes/perfect-pizza. Simply create a basic Margherita (cheese and tomato) pizza, chop some cherry tomatoes in half or use chopped red peppers instead and place onto the pizza in the shape of a cross to create the England Flag.

Alternatively you could make a Swiss fondu (a pot of melted cheese in which diners dip pieces of bread) or Mexican flour tortillas, which you could use to make fajitas. For something a bit more exotic, you could try baking Ghanaian gari biscuits or Slovenian potica (nut bread).

Wicked Wimbledon!

If football isn’t your thing, and you prefer something a bit more leisurely, then the Wimbledon Tennis Championships have just kicked off. It’s a typically British affair, where strawberries and cream, picnics with soggy cheese and tomato sandwiches, rain and of course, Cliff Richard, all come into the public eye again. So this fortnight, why not focus your food technology lessons around traditional English picnic food – soggy sandwiches not included!

Designing a sandwich using pre-sliced wrapped loaves makes a fun activity for younger children or alternatively, older children may enjoy the challenge of baking their own bread, then using that to make their sandwich recipe. Our “Super Sandwich” worksheet which is aimed at children aged five to seven, can be found by clicking the following link www.grainchain.com/Downloads/5-7/Fun/SuperSandwiches_5-7.pdf.  Furthermore, it’s in a Microsoft Word format, which can be edited to suit the age and ability range of your class.

Did you know?

• Sliced bread was first introduced into the UK in the 1930s.
• Bread provides useful amounts of carbohydrates, B vitamins, protein and calcium. White flour is fortified with calcium, iron, thiamin and niacin. So despite some claims in the media, bread is really good for you – it’s the spreads and fillings which can increase the calories and fat content.

We were really pleased with the quality of the entries that we received from entrants of our Inspire! competition. It was great to see so many inspiring entries in such a range of media and from across the whole of the UK including the Channel Islands. However, our finalists are…

• Ralph Allen School in Bath (England)
• Ysgol uwchradd caergybi in Holyhead (Wales)
• Hitchin Girls School in Hertfordshire (England)
• Braeview Academy in Dundee (Scotland)
• St Louise’s Comprehensive College in Belfast (Northern Island)
• Le Murier School in Guernsey (Channel Islands)

All are in with the chance of winning £1500 for their school. To find out who wins, be sure to come back to this page.

Join us on Twitter!

The Grain Chain is now on Twitter. Follow us at www.twitter.com/grainchain for even more news and daily updates.

We want to hear your thoughts about our website

What do you particularly like about our website? Is there anything that you think we could improve? What would you like to see more of? We want to hear your thoughts and ideas on our discussion forum at www.facebook.com/pages/Grain-Chain/111828768858694?v=wall. We’d also like to work more closely with teachers in the future. If you would like to take part in any workshops, focus groups or surveys then email us at grainchain@nabim.org.uk.

Food baffles children

A study by the British Trust of Conservation Volunteers has shown that this generation of children do not know how their food grows or where their food comes from. Eight out of ten adults worry about how little children know about their food. It means that many children are growing up not knowing what is in the foods that they are eating- which is a shame as bread is not only really tasty but also really healthy and a great source of many different vitamins and minerals.

Under all of the age group sections on our website, we have resources including information sheets, videos and interactive whiteboard activities to teach children about how grain is grown and made into bread. We also have bread making recipes in our recipe section which you could use to create a follow up lesson: www.grainchain.com/Recipes/bread-rolls.

Top Tip!

Be sure to check this section at the beginning of July, as we’ll be adding even more lesson plans which have been tried and tested by teachers across the UK.

Another worrying trend…

We have all heard about the worrying childhood obesity trends, which indicate that by 2015, one in ten children in the UK will be obese. But have you heard about the latest rise in  childhood dieting and eating disorders? A survey of 32,000 ten to fifteen year olds by the Schools Health Education Unit revealed that teenage girls regularly skip up to two meals a  day with breakfast and lunch being the most commonly missed. Healthy eating at any age is important, but especially throughout the childhood and teenage years as young bodies are still developing. With this in mind, we have created an interactive podcast about healthy eating and the importance of eating a balanced diet for you to use in the classroom. You can find this by clicking on the following link  www.grainchain.com/14-to-16/podcasts/podCast/podCast_2.html.

For even more updates, news, useful links and teaching ideas, join us at our Facebook page www.facebook.com/pages/Grain-Chain/111828768858694?v=wall. We’d also love to find out what you think of the Grain Chain website – you can post your comments or questions on our discussion forum and one of the Grain Chain team will get back to you. Feel free to send the link to your colleagues – with all the useful lesson plans and tips on the website we’re sure they’ll thank you for it!

British Sandwich Week (May 9-15th) presents a great opportunity to celebrate one of Britain’s best loved and versatile foods – the sandwich. Since being uncovered and named by the 4th Earl of Sandwich in 1762, the Great British Sandwich has become common place at lunchtimes in homes, offices, schools, and shops all over Britain. Unlike so many other foods today, the average sandwich is wholesome, healthy and ideally suited to today’s busy lifestyles where people want foods that are convenient to carry and easy to eat.

Top tip!

Children perform better at school when they eat a substantial breakfast and a healthy, balanced lunch. Lunchboxes should contain foods from the following four food groups:

- Starchy carbohydrates such as bread, or pasta. A sandwich is ideal as not only will it give children energy but bread also contains essential vitamins and minerals such as calcium, B vitamins and iron.

- Fruit and vegetables. Favourites include bananas, grapes and easy peel satsumas. Raw vegetable sticks or cherry tomatoes are normally welcomed.

- Protein. Try adding chicken or cheese to a sandwich with lots of salad.

- Dairy. A small fruit based yoghurt or a bite sized piece of cheese works well.

Rather than provide children with fizzy drinks or sugary juices, give them a bottle of water. It is essential for keeping both body and brain hydrated.  Alternatively a glass of milk is one of the most nutritious choices available and is a good source of essential nutrients including calcium and vitamin D which play a key part in building and maintaining strong bones and teeth.

Did you know…?

- The first recorded sandwich was made by the famous rabbi, Hillel the Elder, who lived during the 1^st century BC.

- Sliced bread was introduced into the UK in the mid 1930’s.

- Sandwiches account for up to 50% of the bread we eat.

- Over 30% of all sandwiches sold have chicken as a filling. The British Sandwich Association estimates that the amount of chicken used in a year is 20,550 tonnes.

- Over 62% of the population buy a sandwich at least once a year.

- The most expensive place to buy a sandwich is London - £1.83 versus a national average of £1.66.