Presentation of Learning: Food, Family, and Me

UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, recognizes that “heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations.” Because of this mission, UNESCO seeks to protect landmarks like the Acropolis in Greece and Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, as well as natural landscapes like Yellowstone National Park and the Great Barrier Reef.

But did you know UNESCO also seeks to preserve intangible cultural heritage including food-related customs and the preparation of traditional dishes like Neapolitan pizza, lavash, couscous, kimchi, and much more?

Last spring, iLEAD Exploration learners in grades 5-8 who attended our Learner University course titled “The Great American Cooking Show” got to explore the importance of food in their own lives and as part of their identities.

The five-week-long course focused first on math skills specifically relevant to cooking: fractions. They practiced adapting recipes by multiplying fractions with whole numbers and other fractions, working with mixed numbers, adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators, and more.

The learners also took a digital road trip around the United States, exploring the food they encountered in various states. They each chose two states to focus on and later wrote about the state whose food intrigued them the most.

The culminating project was to produce their own cooking video. Learners designed, wrote, and recorded their own cooking shows, exploring diverse American cuisines important to them or their families. Below are the questions provided to guide them:

Think about and answer the following questions as you plan your cooking show:

1. How will you introduce your recipe to the audience?
2. What math concepts will you incorporate into your show?
3. Why is it important to understand the historical background of the recipe you are preparing?

Irene M., then a 5th grade iLEAD Exploration learner, chose to focus on her mother’s Dutch heritage and produced a video making Boterkoek—a buttery almond-flavored pie. It looks super yummy and relatively accessible for beginning bakers to try.

Thank you, Irene, for sharing about your family and culture and for showing us that learning sure can be delicious!

Irene’s Boterkoek baking video

Dutch People and The Netherlands by Irene McWhirter

Course resources

Script Planning Graphic Organizer

Recipe Card Ingredients: Part 1

Recipe Card Ingredients: Part 2

Baking with Fractions: Multiplying Fractions and Whole Numbers

Road Trip around the United States

Other kid cooking shows:

Butter Chicken: Cooking with Kian

Beef Kabobs Cooking with William

Baked Chicken Wings with Buffalo Sauce: Cook With Amber

Learner U: Great American Cooking Show