Masterchef Kindy-style
This week, Kindergarten practically combusted with joy when they were given their first opportunity to cook in the Food Tech kitchen. And what was on the menu? Cookies with sprinkles of course!
The Athenaeum echoed with excitement this week as Kindergarten – all proudly wearing their homemade chef hats and aprons – headed to the Food Tech kitchen to bake cookies. It was all part of their latest PYP Unit of Inquiry into Sharing the Planet.
The unit kicked off with Kindergarten sharing ideas and suggestions about what they could do to learn more about living things. Perhaps they could bring in their pets - dogs, cats, fish and guinea pigs – to help them learn about what animals need to survive? What about bringing in more exotic animals like giraffes or meerkats? Or maybe even a glowing starfish? Hmmm, said Ms Bouterakos, maybe you might like to do a little more research into these animals and see what you think. So, they did! And they all decided that Wenona wasn’t really the best environment for a giraffe and that they needed to rethink their inquiry approach.
Next, Kindergarten went on a walk through the school gardens, where to their delight, they discovered all manner of living things, including fish, birds, insects, lily pads, people… and flowers… lots of flowers!
This sparked them to think about how a seed becomes a plant that flowers. And so, they decided to conduct a little experiment of their own and grow their own plants. Carefully planting their seeds and then caring for them, ensuring they had enough sunlight, water and a safe spot that wasn’t too hot or too cold.
Then Charlotte had a brainwave. Why not use their iPads to find information on a living thing that interested them? So, Kindergarten reached for their iPads and began to explore conifer trees, seed eater birds, butterflies, meerkats and sika deer, using their research to write an information report about their living thing. They drew detailed diagrams complete with labels about the life cycle of their chosen animal/plant and its connection to other living things.
Kindergarten then began to think about how people rely on living things for food. Having carved pumpkins for Halloween, they predicted how pumpkins grow and then took a closer look at the seeds inside them. After discussing fruits, vegetables, eggs, fish and chicken, they thought long and hard about flour and sugar. Where did they come from? Hmmm, said Kindergarten, our prediction is that sugar comes from either bees (because they make honey), flowers (because they have pollen and nectar) or cows (but we’re not really sure why we’re including cows in this). They were very excited to discover that sugar comes from plants… although a couple of students were still adamant that sugar does actually come from cows!
To celebrate their new-found knowledge and the end of Kindergarten, Ms Bouterakos, along with Ms Edwards and Ms Rowe, organised for them to go to The Athenaeum to do a special cooking activity with Ms Camilleri. So they donned their chef hats and their aprons and off they went.
What a fantastic way to end the year. Baking cookies, covering them with sprinkles and then eating them!
Bon appétit everyone!