“My students enjoyed the maths, science and health concepts integrated within this learning. Rich discussion was had about the health benefits of vegetables in the muffins versus possibly adding fruit. We also talked about sugar and salt and noticed the effects that they had on the taste and texture of the muffins.
We shared the muffins with whānau as part of our Matariki celebration of learning. Some interesting conversations were overheard regarding whānau responses to the sweet and savoury tasting muffins! Especially the salty ones. Some people loved them.
A challenge was managing the collaboration of students with the practical side of making the muffins and keeping the science focus.
Overall, a great learning experience for myself and the students. Thanks for the opportunity.”
“Loved this kit! Was awesome to see the kids connecting the dots between what is in cake recipes and what they do. It linked in perfectly with our Science Unit for term 2 and allowed kids to step outside their comfort zones and try something new. Took a bit of organising to do practical components, but they were well worth it.”
“Students enjoyed the practical nature of this kit, and although getting them to do the cooking part was messy and needed much organisation, they had a ball. Lots of great learning was had by all too!”
“This was excellent, hands-on science learning and an interesting baking experience. The students learned a lot from their mistakes and successes. It created very good discussion and reflections. Most of our groups were able to identify their mistakes and had better results with the second round of baking.
What was interesting is that our students started to examine muffins from their lunches to see if the baking had bubbles.
It was really good to have a kit that helped us to teach what ingredients can/could be substituted and how easily fruit and vegetables can be added to baking.”
“Amazing well-resourced kit and such a wonderful idea to explore with your students - putting veggies into cakes! My Year 5 & 6 class tried a Masterchef scenario - using a set of ingredients to make a veggie cake with their 'secret ingredient.' We even had a guest judge, and we taste tested all of them! The best cakes were the Chocolate Chickpea cake and Beetroot Red Velvet cake! Would highly recommend other teachers to try with your class!”
“The kids really enjoyed the science experiments and researching chemical reactions. It got some big buy in from the boys there. They absolutely loved the baking and I had a teacher aide that was able to take the kids for some of these which meant all
Of the kids baked. They struggled to get their head around the base recipe for a few rounds but by the end they were masters at it.”
“My class really enjoyed the practical processes of measuring, sifting, sorting, hypothesising and collaborating with each other. They also learnt valuable skills of how to give feedback in constructive and kind ways. The fruit muffins were popular and a lot of interesting debate occurred with the savoury salty muffins. Lovely rich discussions around what made these salty, not just added but also naturally occurring salts in vegetables like peas. We also discussed the benefits of eating healthily and how we could apply that knowledge to decisions we make about food we cook or bake. A great learning experience! Thanks for the opportunity! Ethel Renata & Rm 5”
“We loved this kit. To start with, the students had a big chat about what vege cakes they are already familiar with (beetroot, carrot, courgette). This challenged their thinking! We had small groups working together to make vege cupcakes, some definitely more successful than others! Looking at the chemistry of each of the ingredients was fascinating and was a perfect lead in for our Science Fair projects in Term 3 - lots of students are looking at kitchen science for their projects!”
