STEAMeD - Workshops for Teachers

Photo: Ralph Mazitschek

Teachers, community program instructors, and after school program leaders are invited to apply to participate in two day-long sessions on incorporating food and cooking into STEM lesson plans. In partnership with the Young Chefs Program, the Materials Research Science & Engineering Center (MRSEC) based at Harvard will offer two Saturday workshops for teachers. These workshops will cover 4 topics, adapting lessons from the highly popular undergraduate course at Harvard and EdX, Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science (see here for part 1 and part 2).

These free, hands-on workshops let you eat your experiments, while teaching concepts that are mapped to Massachusetts State Standards.

Earn 18 PDP points in STEM for participation in the workshops. Participants will receive exclusive access to curriculum and resources, including 27 lesson plans for use in a variety classroom settings and covering a range of concepts, from experimental design to physical science.  Teachers also receive equipment necessary to implement the 4 lesson plans covered in the 2 Saturday sessions.

Lessons:

  • Chili Infusions: Exploring solubility is so hot right now
  • Pickles:  Not Your Basic Vegetable
  • Tortillas:  The Corny Processes of Polymer Crosslinking and Starch Gelatinization
  • I Lava Science:  Exploring Heat Diffusion through Molten Chocolate Cake

Requirements:

  1. Attend both sessions
  2. Write a reflection on plans for implementing lessons in their own classrooms.
  3. Participate in a call-back and sharing session in January.
  4. ​Provide feedback via online surveys or focus groups.

Please note this workshop was previously held in 2017. We hope to host this event again in the future, but currently have no plans for an in person workshop.