On May 17th, 18th and 19th, 2016  Mrs. Sandra Hartman, Family and Consumer Sciences and Mrs. Melanie Kerr, Science worked together on a co-curricular classroom project. Mrs. Kerr teaches Organic Chemistry, a senior science elective; most of her students have all taken at least one cooking class and are very comfortable in the kitchen. The Organic Chem students developed the idea to examine the chemistry of cooking, Mrs. Hartman and Mrs. Kerr discussed this topic several times before, and were happy to make this happen.  

Mrs. Hartman’s schedule coincided with Mrs. Kerr’s, so she could help facilitate a lesson. The two teachers worked hard to find a way to challenge the students to understand the importance of science, specifically chemistry, in cooking also known as molecular gastronomy. The teachers found time in their busy schedules to meet and plan a set activities to support the lesson. 

Before going to the kitchen, students were required to research the chemistry involved in the making of dough, cheese and tomato sauce. Students presented the material to their peers via a google slides presentation. Both Mrs. Hartman and Mrs. Kerr watched the presentations and assessed the students with respect to both chemistry and cooking. Following this activity, students made mozzarella cheese and pizza dough from scratch over 2 days, then used the dough and cheese along with store bought sauce to create delicious pizzas. The collaborative project allowed students to take a subject like chemistry. which is often seen as abstract and theoretical, and allow them to directly apply it to something that they do everyday. The lesson also gave students the hands on experience in the kitchen; students physically make cheese from milk and dough from flour. Students left the 4 day experience with both knowledge and practical skills.

Many colleges are already using this as their model to teach chemistry.

The images below represent the processing of the cheese from raw ingredients, kneading of the dough and pizza assembly.