Teacher Resources
Exhibit Overview
Was it Something I Ate? is an interactive computer-based exhibit developed to engage middle and high school students in learning how to prepare and store food safely. The simulated kitchen setting connects students' learning experiences in the exhibit with the choices they make in their home kitchens. This novel approach goes beyond the familiar safe food handling rules to introduce students to the microorganisms involved with foodborne illness and the science behind safe food handling practices.
Refrigerator
Don't wait, refrigerate.
Activity: Choose a food item. Use the information written on the label on the container to decide if the food is safe to eat or if the food has been in the refrigerator longer than the safe storage time and should be tossed.
Message: To know if a food item stored in the refrigerator is safe to eat, put the day or date on a label on the food container when you put it in the refrigerator. How long food can be safely stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator varies. Some foods, like eggs, can be stored for a longer time than other foods, like leftover carryout.
Stove
Cook it well or time will tell.
Activity: Choose from two types of food thermometers. Discover when to use each thermometer and where to place it to check the temperature of meat to see if it is safe to eat.
Message: The color of the meat cannot be used to determine if the meat is safe to eat. Use a food thermometer to check if the meat is safe to eat. Put cooked meat on a clean plate, free of bacteria that may have been on the uncooked meat.
Sink
Never fear, germs stop here.
Activity: Choose from the activities shown to see a close-up view of the amount of bacteria that can be left on hands following an everyday activity. Then choose hand washing steps, in the order they should be done before preparing and eating food, to wash away bacteria to prevent a foodborne illness.
Message: Hands can carry bacteria from an everyday activity to food. Wash hands before preparing and eating food to prevent foodborne illness.
Kitchen TV
Keep it straight, don't cross-contaminate.
Activity: Watch one or more of the four 60-second episodes of "Was It Something I Ate?," a TV program hosted by a male and female teen team.
Message: The program episodes address the following safe food handling practices:
- Thaw meat in the refrigerator instead of on the counter to prevent growth of bacteria that can lead to foodborne illness.
- Sanitize sponges and cloths and sponges with a bleach solution or in the dishwasher after using them to clean counter tops and cutting boards.
- Wash bacteria off the surface of fruits and vegetables to keep them from being carried to the inside of the fruit or vegetable by the knife.
- Wash hands and counter tops after handling raw meat to prevent transferring bacteria from the meat to foods that will not be cooked.
Pantry
When in doubt, throw it out.
Activity: Choose from the food items to discover the length of time each food can be safely stored in its package.
Message: Food packages with signs of pest invasion or with dents and cracks, or that should have been refrigerated after opening or are not closed tightly may make the food in the package unsafe to eat. If uncertain about whether the food is safe to eat, the best decision is to throw it out.
The Bacteria Catcher
The Bacteria Catcher can be used as an engaging way to review the exhibit lessons. Print a copy for each student to fold into their own bacteria catcher. Students can work in pairs, starting with the letters, B-E to open and close the catcher two times to get to the first question. Then they can proceed to more questions using the letters, F-O-O-D and then S-A-F-E to open and close the catcher four times each to get to more questions to ask. Download here.
Scheduling Was It Something I Ate?
The Was It Something I Ate? exhibit is available for check out. The exhibit can be used with a variety of audiences in classrooms, health departments and community settings. Contact Ann Cohen for information.
Food safety curriculum
Hands On: Real World Lessons for Middle School Classrooms is a food safety curriculum designed to be taught by a team of middle school teachers in science, social studies, math and language arts. The curriculum, developed by Jennifer Richards, PhD, University of Tennessee, is aligned to the Missouri grade level expectations and compliments the Was it Something I Ate? exhibit. Download the curriculum at Hands On: Real World Lessons for Middle School Classrooms
Curriculum and exhibit connections
Many of the concepts presented and experiences for the students in the Was It Something I Ate? (WISIA) exhibit connect to and reinforce the concepts and activities in the Hands On: Real-World Lessons for Middle School Classrooms (HO) curriculum.
Following are the exhibit connections for each of the curriculum areas:
Science
Students conduct lab experiences to learn about bacteria, where it grows, and how you can avoid getting sick from bacteria.
- The sink component of the WISIA exhibit reinforces the HO science section concept of hand washing in warm water for 20 seconds to prevent the spread of bacteria.
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The refrigerator component of the WISIA exhibit also reinforces two of the science section concepts:
- Over time, more bacteria can grow.
- Bacteria growth can be slowed or delayed by removing some of the conditions required for bacterial growth.
Social Studies
Food borne illness results from bacteria and can include a variety of symptoms and treatments. This section also teaches students how to prevent foodborne illness.
- The experience at the sink component of the WISIA exhibit demonstrates how foodborne illness is spread.
- The refrigerator component of the WISIA exhibit teaches the importance of proper cold storage to prevent food borne illness.
- The pantry component encourages students to learn how dry goods and unrefrigerated items can become unsafe to eat and lead to foodborne illness.
- The stove component demonstrates cooking food to the proper temperature to prevent foodborne illness.
- The TV episodes reinforce the message of separate food to prevent cross contamination and foodborne illness.
Language Arts
Students learn to convey food safety messages and positive health behavior messages in an accurate way to readers.
- The sink, refrigerator, pantry and kitchen TV exhibit experiences involve choosing steps and processes to safely store, clean and prepare food in a simulated kitchen setting. These transferable experiences to a home kitchen will help students answer the statements on the "Safe Food Handling Anticipation-Reaction Guide" and reinforce the concept that different bacteria can cause different symptoms as well as how to prevent the spread of that organism.
Math
Analyzing and graphing data from a class survey, students learn about bacterial growth rates and the scale and size of bacteria.
- The refrigerator experience involves calculation and comparison of numbers. Students check information about the number of days a food can safely be stored against the number of days written on the container labels to determine if the food is safe to eat.
- The sink, refrigerator, pantry and kitchen TV exhibit experiences involve choosing steps and processes to safely store, clean and prepare food in a simulated kitchen setting. These transferable experiences to a home kitchen will help students interpret and understand their graphed results from their home safe food handing behaviors.
Vocabulary
The vocabulary section familiarizes students with words used in food safety education. Students write journal articles to further increase vocabulary retention and learn to use the words in everyday conversation about safe food handling.
- WISIA exposes students to a variety of new vocabulary words. By using the HO curriculum, students learn the definitions of the food safety terms used in the exhibit, leading to a better understanding of the concepts presented in the exhibit and an increase in students' ability to explain the food safety messages that they learned through the exhibit, to their family and friends.
