Exploring Chemistry through Food makes science fun and approachable to a non-science student while providing an endless array of everyday examples to teach chemical concepts to Chemistry majors and non-majors alike. The first chemistry experiments probably started in the kitchen and one can envisage recipes as being laboratory protocols. Scientists are increasingly collaborating with the culinary world to redefine the boundaries of cooking, while a new wave of celebrity chefs on TV and in print have made food more accessible and have stimulated interest in the underlying science to the lay public as well as creating a foodie movement.
The Food Chemistry in Education workshop is geared towards Science educators interested in developing a Food Chemistry or a Food Science course for non-majors or incorporating food chemistry into their general curriculum. The workshop will provide the participants with a basic understanding of the connections between chemistry, food and cooking as well as strategies to incorporate food in the chemistry curriculum. The activities for each day will include a limited amount of lecture; the emphasis will be on hands-on activities, discovery-based lessons, experimentation both in labs and in the kitchen. There will also be daily plenary session talks that will focus on one topic in more depth. Workshop participants will prepare some of their meals while experimenting with the science behind the preparation. Planned field trips may include a winery, a brewery, a confectionary, an organic farm or a dairy.
Workshop participants will receive a full complement of resources to plan their own courses. The resources will include text materials, laboratory experiments, demonstrations, discovery-based lesson plans, and lists of print, video and online resources. The last day of the workshop will be used to develop strategies to incorporate Food Chemistry materials into their individual curricula.
Sunday: Arrival and Reception.
Introduction to Food - an interactive session to orient participants towards a framework for discussing food. Participants will also be given the framework for the development of individually tailored course materials which will be completed on Friday.
Monday: Flavor. Taste and smell are the most purely chemical of senses and this will form the basis of teaching the core Chemistry concepts involving atoms, ions and molecular structure. Participants will experience a discovery-based approach, first making observations involving flavor and then determining the underlying scientific principles. Planned experiments involve extracting essential oils and chromatography.
Nutrition. The nature of macronutrients and micronutrients will be the focus of this section, with an exploration of digestion and nutrient storage within the body. Participants will explore online resources and perform laboratory exercises involving calorimetry. Educators who wish to use Food Chemistry either to supplement or supplant their Chemistry courses for Nursing, Physical Education, etc can use this section to increase the amount of 'hard science' they plan to do.
Plenary Session. Of Rice & Beans: why we eat what we eat.
Tuesday: Mixtures. Most of the foods we consume are mixtures, especially colloidal dispersions. The nature of solutions, colloids and suspensions will be examined with a focus on polarity. Solution properties such as osmosis will be examined through demonstrations and hands-on activities. Participants will make their own condiments including mayonnaise as part of preparing their lunch.
Food Reactions(1). This section will focus on acid-base reactions, redox reactions and food-specific browning reactions (caramelization, Maillard reactions). Demonstrations involving color will complement an inquiry-based lab involving the browning of apples. An outdoor barbecue will ensue.
Plenary Session. Food Controversies: the intersection of science and policy.
Wednesday: Cooking Methods. A range of dry and wet methods of cooking will be introduced with a concurrent discussion of heat transfer methods. Demonstrations will involve specific heat properties of different metals and of water and participants will get to employ different cooking methods later in the day when preparing dinner.
Food Reactions(2). This section will focus on textural changes involving proteins and carbohydrates. Participants will explore how differences in protein composition of different meats and fish affect the cooking method employed, how different starches can affect gravy consistencies, etc. Participants will prepare a complete dinner including soup, cheese and bread.
Plenary Session. Same egg, different results: the story of texture.
Thursday: Food Reactions(3) This section will focus on reactions involving phase changes such as gel formation, candy making, etc. The use of these textural changes in cutting-edge culinary practices, known by the umbrella term ‘Molecular Gastronomy’ will be explored. Participants will make their own marshmallows, fake ‘watermelon caviar’, and employ sous-vide techniques to cook fish and meat as part of the laboratory exercises.
Field Trips. The afternoon will be set aside for field trips that may include a local winery, a brewery, a confectionary, etc.
Plenary Session. Beer-Making.
Friday: Integrating Food into the Curriculum. The workshop organizers will do short presentations on how they have developed their courses and present some strategies for integrating food chemistry into a wider curriculum. The participants will then break out into small groups to develop concrete strategies for implementing workshop materials at their institutions, either as a stand-alone course, as part of a course, or integrated into a wider curriculum. Each group will then present their strategies to the larger group.
Each participant will complete a Workshop Evaluation Form.