Liz Plaster - Incredible Edible Science: Recipes for Developing Science and Literacy Skills

Published by Redleaf Press

10 Yorkton Court

St. Paul, MN 55117

www.redleafpress.org

2010 by Liz Plaster and Rick Krustchinsky

All rights reserved. Unless otherwise noted on a specific page, no portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or capturing on any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a critical article or review to be printed in a magazine or newspaper, or electronically transmitted on radio, television, or the Internet.

The authors and Redleaf Press have made every effort to trace and contact the copyright holders of all materials reprinted in this book. If there are any inadvertent omissions, we apologize to those concerned, and ask that they contact Redleaf Press at so that we can correct any oversight as soon as possible.

The science activity on is from Young chefs nutrition guide and cookbook by Carolyn E. Moore, Mimi H. Kerr, and Robert J. Shulman. 1990 by Carolyn E. Moore, Mimi H. Kerr, and Robert J. Shulman. Reprinted with permission.

The science activity on is from Cup cooking: Individual child-portion picture recipes by Barbara Johnson and Betty Plemons. 1998 Barbara Johnson and Betty Plemons. Reprinted with permission.

The Bagel Song (adapted from The Donut Song 2004) on courtesy of Pam Schiller. Reprinted with permission.

First edition 2010

Cover design by Erin Kirk New

Interior design by Percolator

Typeset in Adobe Chaparral

Photo on courtesy of Liz Plaster

Illustrations on pages courtesy of Claire Schipke.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Plaster, Liz.

Incredible edible science : recipes for developing science and literacy skills / by Liz Plaster and Rick Krustchinsky. 1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-1-60554-325-3 (e-book)

1. ScienceStudy and teaching (Early childhood)Activity programs. 2. Language arts (Early childhood)Activity programs. 3. FoodStudy and teaching (Early childhood)Activity programs. 4. CookeryStudy and teaching (Early childhood)Activity programs. I. Krustchinsky, Rick. II. Title.

LB1139.5.S35P6 2010

372.3'5dc22

2009026431

Dedicated to my family:

Your willingness and loving acceptance in your role as research subjects for my cooking continues to inspire and encourage me to keep learning and exploring. Dad, thanks for teaching me how to fly. Bob, thanks for being the wind beneath my wings.

And to my colleagues and students:

Thank you for the support, laughter, challenges, and inspiration you have provided me.

My life is better having been touched by each of you.

Liz Plaster

Dedicated to my wife and children:

Your love and support over the years has helped me to be better than I could ever have been without it. You were always merry and excited and ready for my next adventure.

And to the thousands of students that have been in my classes over the past thirty years:

You have inspired me to continually want to grow and develop as an educator. Thank you for teaching me more about life and the education profession than I could ever teach you.

Rick Krustchinsky

CONTENTS

We are reluctant to single out people specifically, noting how many people in our lives made this book possible, yet we had specific assistance from several people. We are grateful to the people at Redleaf Press who saw the vision for our book ideas and helped turn them into a reality. Each of you at Redleaf Press was very kind throughout the writing process and made the writing of this book fun and exciting. We would like to thank Karen Vanek, Rebecca Sheinberg, and Scott Wille for their help and suggestions in reviewing the manuscript.

Special thanks to all those who worked collaboratively to turn their knowledge into action, creating more effective early childhood programs during this last decade. Though there are many more who could be listed, a few that cannot go unmentioned are Dr. Al Tarlov, Dr. Susan Landry, Dr. Nita Copely, Evelyn Moore, Kaitlin Guthrow, Kara Johnson, Pam Schiller, Frances Schneider, Suzanne Hinds, Carol Shattuck, and Scott Wille. Their experiences inspired the creation of the science-literacy connection in this book.

Incredible Edible Science: Recipes for Developing Science and Literacy Skills is designed to provide a menu of meaningful cooking experiences and food investigations for early childhood educators and the children they teach. The book emphasizes the need for educators like you to nurture the inquisitive minds of young children through the use of food-related and cooking activities. This book, like a cookbook, has recipes that incorporate activities about food and cooking, teaching children, and the nature of science.

, Food for Thought, provides an overview of background information and educational theory in early childhood education relating to current brain research, science and young children, the language and literacy connection, and social development.

activities, which cover communication, safety and health, materials and equipment, snack centers, and the role of the teacher.

, Cooking Up Basic Science Process Skills, emphasizes the importance of basic science process skills in learning science concepts and vocabulary. Food-related activities organized into six categoriesobserving, classifying, communicating, measuring, inferring, and predictinghelp develop basic science process skills. Each activity also subtly introduces a literacy element in the Words You Can Use vocabulary list. The What You Need section lists required materials, while the What You Do section takes you through the activity step by step. Each lesson also includes Questions You Can Ask, with suggestions for questions you can pose to the children throughout the activity to ensure their interaction and learning.