My Changing World:

Thematic Unit
Home Economics:
Stop The Rot!
Learning for Life and Work (MLD)
Writers’ Group

Nora O Baoil, Fleming Fulton School, Belfast (Editor)

Mura Kennedy, Fleming Fulton School, Belfast (Editor)
Avril Fryer, Rostulla School, Newtownabbey
Ruth McCreadie, Longstone School, Belfast
June Richardson, Cedar Lodge School, Belfast
Fionnuala Saunders, St Gerard’s Education Resource Centre, Belfast
Pauline Brady, Rathmore Guidance Centre, Antrim
Colm Hassan, Belmont School, Londonderry
Mary Connolly, Erne School, Enniskillen
Eileen McKeown, Erne School, Enniskillen
Mary McKendry, Castle Tower School (Loughan Campus), Ballymena

Associate Teachers
Denise Maguire, Newtownabbey Educational Guidance Centre
Bronac O’Connell, Sunlea Educational Guidance Centre, Coleraine

A CCEA Publication ©2009

www.nicurriculum.org.uk

Cover Photograph: Bubbles Photo Library

 Unit Title: My Changing World
Sub Theme: Home Economics: Stop the Rot!

Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities: Thinking, Problem-Solving and Decision-Making

Curriculum Objective: To develop the young person as an individual

Key Elements: Personal understanding, mutual understanding, personal health, moral character, spiritual awareness, citizenship, ethical
awareness

Attitudes and Dispositions: Personal responsibility, concern for others, openness to new ideas, curiosity, tolerance, integrity/moral courage,
respect, community spirit

Learning Experiences: Investigating and problem-solving, linked to other curriculum areas, relevant and enjoyable, offers choice, supportive
environment, ongoing reflection, enquiry-based

The Thematic Units connect the Learning for Life and Work subject strands of Personal Development, Local and Global Citizenship, Home
Economics and Employability and demonstrate how they contribute to the understanding of a central theme. They provide a number of
learning, teaching and assessment activities (and are accompanied by supporting resources) to help you address, interpret and develop the
Northern Ireland Curriculum’s key elements and Statements of Minimum Requirement.

Each Thematic Unit contributes to the statutory requirement for Learning for Life and Work and also links to other Areas of Learning. In
addition, there are opportunities to develop learners’ Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities, incorporate Assessment for Learning principles
and make connections to the Cross Curricular Skills.

The units are not intended to be prescriptive and are not the only way to approach the Northern Ireland Curriculum. You do not have to follow
them rigidly. Instead, we encourage you to choose from the wide range of learning, teaching and assessment activities in the units and adapt
and extend them as appropriate for your classes.

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Statements of Minimum Requirement

These are the Statements of Minimum Requirement that are addressed in this unit:

Home Economics Home Economics Home Economics

Healthy Eating Independent Living Independent Living
Investigate the impact of Investigate consumer rights Investigate a range of factors
storage, preparation and and responsibilities that influence consumer
cooking on food choices and decisions

Home Economics
Healthy Eating
Explore ways to achieve
a healthy diet

My Changing World Thematic Unit Home Economics: Stop the Rot!

 Key Question Learning Intention Possible Learning, Teaching and Assessment Activities Skills and
Learners will have Capabilities
opportunities to …

Make links
Why does food ... examine factors involved in Show the learners two apples, bananas, lettuces and/or slices of bread – one fresh
between cause
storing fresh food. and one rotten or mouldy. Ask which one they would prefer to eat. You could take
need to be digital photos at regular intervals while the food deteriorates to have a record to and effect
kept fresh? show in class.
Communication -
Discuss the learners’ responses and the consequences of not keeping food fresh. Contribute
Talk together about how it is best to eat fresh food to prevent food poisoning. comments, ask
questions and
Discuss how food comes from plants or animals. Create two large wall charts from respond to others’
pictures in magazines, one showing food from plants, and the other, food from points of view
animals. Highlight that animal foods need careful storage because they are
high-risk foods.

Resource Sheet in this booklet

Online Activity (OA) or PowerPoint Activity (PP) available from www.nicurriculum.org.uk

Skills tabs printed in orange are Cross Curricular Skills

Skills tabs printed in yellow are Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities

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Key Question Learning Intention Possible Learning, Teaching and Assessment Activities Skills and
Learners will have Capabilities
opportunities to …

Examine options,
How can we keep ... develop skills in the safe Storage conditions should maintain the nutritional value, appearance and taste of
weigh up pros
storage of foods. food. Use the PowerPoint to introduce the need for foods to be stored correctly.
food fresh? Together discuss the different places food can be stored in the kitchen, for example
and cons

a dry goods cupboard, vegetable rack, fridge or freezer.

Communication -
PP: Food Storage
Communicate
information,
Gather a wide selection of different foods and play the Four Corners game. Print
ideas, opinions
out Resource 1 and label each of the four corners of the room. Give each learner
and feelings
a food, or a picture of food, and tell them to stand in the corner they think is correct
(for example, milk belongs in the fridge corner).
Using ICT -
Investigate, make
Resource 1: Four Corners
predictions and
solve problems
Use the pictures in Resource 2 to reinforce the information. Have the learners through interaction
decide in small groups where each food should be stored. with electronic tools

Resource 2: Where Would You Store These Foods Safely? Using ICT -
Research,
Show the PowerPoint and discuss together the guidelines for storing food in the select, process
fridge. Together consider the guidelines for storing food in the freezer. and interpret
information
PP: The Fridge And The Freezer

Use the fridge and freezer in the HE Room to illustrate all of the above. Alternatively,
a visit to the school canteen might show a broader range of examples.

My Changing World Thematic Unit Home Economics: Stop the Rot!

 Key Question Learning Intention Possible Learning, Teaching and Assessment Activities Skills and
Learners will have Capabilities
opportunities to …

Select, classify,
How can we keep ... develop skills in the safe Provide copies of Resource 4 and, if possible, A3-sized copies of the picture in Resource 3.
compare
storage of foods. Have the learners cut and paste or draw the foods into the appropriate storage area in the
food fresh? kitchen. This activity reinforces the information they have learned about food storage.
and evaluate
information

Resource 3: The Kitchen

Communication -
Listen to and take
Resource 4: Kitchen Storage
part in discussions

Read through Resource 5 to consider facts about milk and different ways it was
Communication -
sold in the past. Research online the history of the milkman. Collect different
Communicate
packaging used for storing milk, for example paperboard cartons, plastic bottles,
information,
glass bottles and billycans. Group the containers into those that would keep
ideas, opinions
milk fresh for a day, for a week or for longer (long life). You could develop this
and feelings using
packaging theme into individual projects on the history of other packaging.
an expanding
vocabulary
Resource 5: About Milk
Communication -
Stress again that some foods, including milk, need to be stored in the fridge to help Find, select and use
stop bacteria multiplying. Highlight sell-by/use-by information on milk packaging, information from a
and emphasise the dangers of using high-risk foods after these dates. range of sources

Emphasise that food poisoning is an avoidable illness. There is a selection of

excellent websites with good resources covering this topic fully.

For further information, go to:

www.foodlink.org.uk - click on Food Storage and Food Poisoning for good fact sheets.

www.storefoodonline.com - go to Education, then click on Post Primary.

www.eatwell.gov.uk/keepingfoodsafe

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Key Question Learning Intention Possible Learning, Teaching and Assessment Activities Skills and
Learners will have Capabilities
opportunities to …

Make predictions,
How do ... combine and build on Explore with your learners what supermarket chains they know. Consider what is
examine evidence
information from a variety meant by the term ‘supermarket’. For instance, all supermarkets have common
supermarkets of sources. features: they have a design of layout to encourage impulse buying, a mixed range
and distinguish fact
keep food fresh? from fiction
of merchandise, and are often located on the outskirts of towns and cities. Carry
out a survey to find out which supermarket chain is most popular, using as big a
Communication -
sample base as possible.
Communicate
information,
Organise a visit to a local supermarket to enable the learners to complete Resource
ideas, opinions
6. (If a group visit is not possible, they could do this as homework.)
and feelings
Resource 6: Supermarket Sweep
Using ICT -
Research,
Have the learners work in groups to investigate various supermarket websites
select, process
and look at the procedures for ordering online. Together discuss the reasons
and interpret
why this method of shopping could be helpful to certain groups of people (for
information
example people who do shift work, mothers with young children and people
with disabilities).
Using ICT -
Access and
Make a shopping list of basic foodstuff (or ingredients for a recipe). Use
manage
supermarket websites or price comparison sites to check prices and record which
information
supermarket is best value.

Discuss the advantages of the different types of food available: fresh, chilled, frozen,
dried and tinned. Explain that this wide variety of ways to preserve food allows us
an extensive choice in our diets and can help us to prepare healthy meals
more easily.

My Changing World Thematic Unit Home Economics: Stop the Rot!

 Key Question Learning Intention Possible Learning, Teaching and Assessment Activities Skills and
Learners will have Capabilities
opportunities to …

Justify methods,
Should I shop in a ... make informed choices. Together discuss why some people are critical of the big supermarket chains.
opinions and
Supermarkets face criticism for contributing heavily to environmental damage by
supermarket? importing foods unnecessarily, presenting overpackaged foods, using plastic carrier
conclusions

bags, etc. Explore environmental issues created by our shopping habits.

Communication -
Listen to and take
Create two lists – one for the advantages of shopping in a supermarket and one
part in discussions
for the advantages of shopping in a smaller shop. As the investigation progresses,
and explanations
add comments under these headings.

Communication -
Show the PowerPoint and discuss the information it contains.
Speak clearly and
structure talk so
PP: Eco-Friendly Shopping
that ideas can be
understood by
Discuss and/or investigate together on the internet some specific companies that
others
sell eco-friendly products, such as:
− Ecover;
− Divine;
− Suma;
− Traidcraft;
− People Tree; and
− Café Direct.

Use Resource 7 to evaluate what changes your learners would feel were acceptable
in their lives to help the environment.

Resource 7: How Far Would I Go?

You can make links to Art & Design by:

Creating a poster that encourages people to think environmentally, for example
‘Reuse plastic bags’.

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Key Question Learning Intention Possible Learning, Teaching and Assessment Activities Skills and
Learners will have Capabilities
opportunities to …

Make links
What influences ... investigate factors which Together discuss what influences the learners’ food choices. Include the following
between cause
influence teenage food choices. factors where appropriate.
my food choices? and effect
Personal likes and dislikes:
Have the learners list a number of their favourite and least favourite foods on Communication -
separate post-it notes. Communicate
information,
You can make links to Using Mathematics by: ideas, opinions
Creating a bar chart, Venn diagram or pie chart of the results. and feelings using
Fashion trends and advertising: an expanding
Together identify foods which are popular today but were not available or vocabulary
fashionable some years ago. You could set this as research homework, asking the
Using Mathematics -
learners to interview their parents or grandparents about food trends in their youth,
Read, interpret,
recording or videoing their interviews if possible. Discuss how advertising may
organise and
influence our choices. Develop this theme if appropriate.
present information
Religion: in mathematical
Using the internet, books and encyclopedias, investigate the reasons for food formats
choices in a range of religions.
Using ICT -
Health issues: Research,
Explore the issue of healthy food choices. Investigate which are healthy food choices select, process
and why. and interpret
information
Together you could create a menu and cook a healthy meal.

My Changing World Thematic Unit Home Economics: Stop the Rot!

 Key Question Learning Intention Possible Learning, Teaching and Assessment Activities Skills and
Learners will have Capabilities
opportunities to …

Is there anything I ... review learning and identify
some aspects that might
should change? be improved.
Examine options,
Together discuss the need for a personal or family change in choices about food, food
weigh up pros
storage or shops. Decide how best to bring about this change, for example talking
with their parents about buying more fruit and vegetables, reusing plastic bags or
and cons

exploring with younger siblings the need for appropriate food storage.
Communication -
Communicate
Encourage the learners to present feedback to their peers on any success or
information,
challenges they encounter.
ideas, opinions
and feelings

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My Changing World Thematic Unit Home Economics: Stop the Rot!

 Resources
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Four Corners Resource 1

Fridge
Freezer
Cupboard
Vegetable basket
My Changing World Thematic Unit Home Economics: Stop the Rot!
 Where Would You Store These Foods Safely? Resource 2

fresh milk carrots baked beans cooked ham

fresh strawberries sliced cheese fresh bread eggs

Mayer Johnson PCS Symbols © Mayer Johnson LLC (contact Widgit Software www.widgit.com)

cooked chicken fresh apples pasta flour

lettuce rice yoghurt ice cream

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The Kitchen Resource 3

Salad Drawer

My Changing World Thematic Unit Home Economics: Stop the Rot!

 Kitchen Storage Resource 4

Do you remember all you have discovered about how important it is to store food safely? Cut and paste the foods below into the
correct storage space in the kitchen. You may want to work in small groups.

tomato sauce salad ice cream fresh strawberries sugar rice

BEANS

bagel tinned beans tomatoes biscuits broccoli fruit juice

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chicken fillet frozen chips bread jar of coffee frozen peas butter

MAYO
HONEY

sliced cooked meat mayonnaise honey fresh meat milk bananas

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About Milk Resource 5

Originally, milk was delivered from There are many types of milk.
a large churn on the back of a cart. Some types depend on the milk
fat content (for example semi-
skimmed) and some on the type of
processing (pasteurisation).
Most people drink cow’s milk, but
some people are allergic to it.
They can drink soya milk, from
soya beans.

Pasteurised milk has been heated There are three main UHT milk and dried milk can be
to kill most of the bacteria. types of milk that stored for a long time.
we can buy:
Mayer Johnson PCS Symbols © Mayer Johnson LLC (contact Widgit Software www.widgit.com)

full-fat milk,
semi-skimmed milk
and skimmed milk.
Cows in an organic herd have Many foods are made from milk, Milk used to be delivered by
access to fields and are not given for example cream, ice cream, milkmen, but now there are
any hormones. cheese and yoghurt. very few.

My Changing World Thematic Unit Home Economics: Stop the Rot!

 Supermarket Sweep Resource 6

Supermarkets are divided into different sections, carefully planned to get you to buy as much as possible! On
your visit to the supermarket, tick the box as you find each section.

fresh fruit and vegetables frozen foods

chilled prepared food sauces

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tinned foods bread

fresh meat soft drinks

detergents toiletries
During your visit, find out if the supermarket offers services, for example credit cards or insurance.
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How Far Would I Go? Resource 7

Circle the changes you would be willing to make to help the environment.

Use shopping bags or baskets and say ‘no, thank you’

to plastic carrier bags. Reuse plastic bags as bin liners.

Buy food loose when you can, especially fruit and

vegetables. Always choose refillable, reusable containers.

Cut back on using the car. Walking will keep you fit, save
you money and stop all those poisons getting into the air.
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Use eco-friendly washing powder and cleaning agents.

Choose fruit and vegetables that are in season and grown

locally. For example, when you see strawberries in winter,
you know they aren’t grown locally.

Find out where you can recycle bottles, paper and clothes
near where you live.

My Changing World Thematic Unit Home Economics: Stop the Rot!