Definition of artifact: how we make our own bread.

Type of workshop: technological workshop

Integrated methodologies: brainstorming, cooperative learning, Metacognitive problem solving, CLIL.

Students involved:3^rd ,4^th class. Total number : 28 students.

Interaction of school subjects:

Greek Language: vocabulary enrichment, writing,  text analysis and synthesis, creating  questionnaires.

Religious Education: Parables from the Bible, Bread in our religion.

Math:counting, fractions, problems.

ICT: Use appropriate software to run games, to explore and resolve simple problems, to communicate and to utilize technology(focusing on organizing and evaluating information rather than simply searching for it).

Science: we will examine the technology of bread in detail.Investigate yeast and how it ‘works’.Tie in with Science and investigate the conditions required for mold to grow),

Art: Painting ,making collage.

English: Learn basic vocabulary related to the circle of bread, research other well-known idioms, phrases, proverbs and sayings that include the word bread, or are somehow associated with it, writing a recipe in English.

Geography : Find the map of the wheat production areas in Greece.

History: Bread through the ages

Aims:

• Learn and understand the nutritional value of cereals (wheat) and their products such as bread.
• Get to know the bread composition and the processing steps from the field to our table.
• Improve and enrich their vocabulary in English .
• Develop cooperative skills,creative thinking and  self-esteem.
• Understand the value of teamwork and joint discovery using ICT tools.Handle devices such as tape recorders, cameras, computers, printers, scanners, photocopiers and slide projectors.
• Provide the opportunity for children to develop their manual skills  by planting seeds and making bread.
• process:
• First step: brainstorming. First, there was a discussion generated about bread and what students may already know about it, e.g. What is bread? Where does it come from? Do they eat it? Do they eat anything else made out of bread? There was a power point presentation about the circle of bread(How flour is made and how bread is made-planting, growing, harvesting, milling, mixing, and baking. ) and the students  looked for several different varieties of bread from a Google image search.As a warm-up activity students watched a short video about the story of the “ Little Red Hen” (Aesop's fable) with English subtitles.

Finally,  as a manual activity, students  planted some wheat seeds and watched them grow. They looked after their plants, watered them and observed their progress.

Second step: team work. First the students were divided into mixted ability groups and undertook certain tasks according to their interests, skills, talents and inclinations (.A group of students undertook, with the support of their teachers, to design and create a questionnaire on dietary habits.Another one made research and  collected information,the group responsible for taking   photos recorded the stages of the whole process ).Each group presented their findings ,discussed and designed the next steps.

Third step:  What makes the dough rise? Students started searching the internet for information in order to investigate yeast and how it ‘works’. Mix yeast,water sugar and some flour and see what happens.

Another question the students had to deal with was:what is bread mold? What makes it grow? Start making assumptions and draw conclusions.Tie in with Science and investigate the conditions required for mold to grow.

The students decided to  perform a mold bread experiment in order to observe how it grows.

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Put a slice of bread in a bag and observe the mold.

Fourth step: Bake bread! Presentation of the ingredients (flour,water,yeast,sault).Start the actual making of bread after the students had found the recipe on the internet. Have fun baking bread!

Mix the ingredients.

Start kneading 

Put in the oven.

Enjoy their own bread.

Materials used:wheat seeds,flour,yeast.

Cost: all the above materials were brought by the students from their home.

Duration: three months(once a week.From November-January)

Evaluation: The project that was implemented had the ultimate goal of acquainting the children through active, experiential, cooperative learning with the process (traditional and modern) of bread making from the seed to its final form.    The participation and the keen interest of the pupils was an encouraging element for the feedback of the educational process.It provided an opportunity for an experiential approach to healthy eating habits through action in school (make their own bread at school).During the course of the project, students were provided with assessment sheets to evaluate cognitive and metacognitive results.We evaluate that the   goals that have been initially set were achieved. Students were enthousiastic since the very early stages of the project and we think that in some ways we helped children create good eating habits for a lifetime.

Lastly, it is necessary to emphasise the active interaction and interest shown by some students with learning difficulties who have shown considerable manual skills and have proven to be a valuable help for all their schoolmates.