Sunny sweetcorn: Extended activity ideas to support the Online Field Trip LESSON ACTIVITY PLANS Age group: 7-11 years 1
Ages 7-11 Corn activities to support the Online Field Trip Activities This set of activities is intended to consolidate and continue the learning about sweetcorn. It extends the focus to the nutrition and uses of corn. The activities can all be done independently you can pick and choose whichever is most appropriate or interesting for your purposes. Ensure parental/guardian permission has been sought prior to the tasting of any foods, and that you are aware of any existing food allergies. Is corn good for us? Tell the children that corn can be placed in different food groups depending on how it is eaten. When eaten as corn on the cob or sweetcorn from frozen or from a tin, it is considered to be a starchy vegetable [starchy means that it is high in carbohydrate]. When eaten in other ways, such as cornflakes or popcorn, it is a grain. Make copies of the nutrition chart (sweetcorn_nutrition_chart 7-11.pdf)and explain that this chart shows the nutritional values of sweetcorn when it has been boiled. (If time allows, comparisons could be made by looking at the values of corn in general as compared to sweetcorn or comparing the values for un-boiled sweetcorn.) Nutritional Content For Boiled Corn Typical Values Amount per 100 grams Energy 388kJ (92kcal) Fat 1.9g Saturates 0.4g Carbohydrate 14.5g Sugars 6.8g Fibre 2.9g Protein 2.8g Salt <0.01g 2
Look at the chart together. Ask the children questions such as: Which area of the chart shows the highest values? [The carbohydrate section. Sweetcorn contains a good amount of carbohydrate which gives us energy.] What is the amount of protein in 100g of sweetcorn? [3.4g or 6%. As a vegetable, sweetcorn contains a moderate amount of protein. Enough to be a part of our daily protein intake. Do make sure you are eating other forms of protein like beans, fish, eggs or meat alongside your sweetcorn serving.] How much fat content is there? [Sweetcorn contains a low amount of fat.] Who has heard of potassium? How many grams of potassium are there in 100 grams of sweetcorn? [Potassium is a mineral. The body needs it to help with our heart and muscle. We lose potassium when we sweat, especially during exercise. Corn has a moderate amount of potassium 218mg or 6% of our daily intake per 100 grams but this can be boosted if eaten with beans, spinach or potatoes. In order to be able to say that sweetcorn is a source of potassium, it would need to contain 300mg or more per 100g.] How many 100 gram portions of sweetcorn would you need to eat to have the daily recommended doses of: Vitamin A? [20 portions] Vitamin C? [approx. 11 portions] Iron? [50 portions] Once you have looked at the chart, ask the children to say whether they think that sweetcorn is a healthy food or not. [It may be that you come to the conclusion that sweetcorn has some very important nutrients, all be it in small quantities. Corn can be a good addition to a healthy diet when eaten as sweetcorn.] Uses of corn As you may have already discovered, there are hundreds of products made from corn in its variety of forms. They may be thought of under four main headings: 1 Sweetcorn and corn produce used for human consumption. 2 Corn used for cattle fodder and animal feed. 3 Corn used in manufacturing a huge range of non-edible products. 4 Corn used in fuel manufacture ethanol. Play a memory game to help children to understand and take in some of the vast range of products and uses of corn. These can be played in several ways. Kim s game. Provide concrete examples of a few products and cover them up on a tray. Uncover the tray and allow 30 seconds for a child to look at them. The player must look away as one of the products is removed, then look again and attempt to recall the missing item. Pelmanism Download, print out and cut up two sets of cards made from the lists of food and/or other manufactured products made from corn. (Usesofcorn_7-11_Sweetcorn_Extend.pdf) Differentiate the numbers of cards used so that they are appropriate for the players. Mix up and lay out a number of pairs of cards face down. Players take turns to turn two cards at a time in an attempt to find the matching pairs. The player who finds the most sets of pairs is the winner. Put one of the lists of 40 products up on a board where the class or a group of children can see them. Remind them what each list contains ie. food or non-food items manufactured from corn. Allow the children to look at the list for an agreed amount of time e.g. two minutes. Remove the list and challenge the children to write down as many of the items as they can remember in five minutes. Once children have played the game, look at the lists together. Ask the children which of the products they are most surprised to find includes corn. Challenge the children to use the cards to invent their own games about the different uses of corn. Read Tim and the Corn Stalk (Timandthe cornstalk_5-7_sweetcorn_intro.pdf) - a different version of Jack and the Beanstalk which includes a giant who has discovered many different uses for corn. The children might write their own versions of the story or change some elements of it. Ask the children to investigate/research the use of ethanol and its environmental benefits. 3
Popcorn maths Children will enjoy learning about percentages in this popcorn investigation. Firstly talk to the children about why popcorn pops. [Each kernel contains a drop of water. When the corn is heated, the water inside tries to turns to into steam but it cannot escape through the seed coat. The hot steam changes the starch inside the kernel so that it becomes soft. The pressure builds until the outer shell is ruptured. This happens very quickly, and produces the popping sound; effectively turning the kernel inside out.] Divide the children into small groups and give each group exactly 100 kernels of popcorn. Ask the children to count them to ensure there are a hundred. Heat the kernels in whichever way is the most suitable in your setting. Allow a fixed amount of time for the corn to pop. When the time is up, ask the children to count the popped and un-popped kernels. Ensure that the two figures add up to 100 (and are number bonds!) Remind the children that percentage means out of a hundred and ask each group for their percentage of popped corn. Collect the information together and find the average percentage of corn popped. You may wish to extend the investigation by finding out: The optimum length of time to heat the corn to achieve the highest percentage popped. The best heating method. Whether some varieties of popping corn are better than others. What happens if corn is pre-treated in different ways e.g. cooled, warmed, soaked in water? Eating Corn This would make a useful follow-on activity after the popcorn maths to ensure the food is put to good use. Make flavoured popcorn. Use freshly cooked popcorn if possible and plastic sandwich or freezer bags. Choose a few ingredients to try, such as: garlic, rosemary, sage, thyme, parsley, cheese, sesame seeds, curry powder, salt and vinegar or cinnamon. Share the popcorn between the bags/ingredients you are using. Sprinkle the chosen ingredients into a little melted butter, add it to the popcorn and shake the bag You might see if the children can guess the added ingredient or ask them to conduct a survey to find the most popular flavour. 4
Corn around the world Ask the children to remember some of the different ways that corn can be eaten in the UK. Tell them that children in other countries eat corn in different forms and give some examples, e.g. USA grits [a ground corn food, mainly eaten at breakfast] hominy [whole corn kernels soaked in lime] corn dogs [a hot dog sausage with a thick layer of cornmeal batter] Italy polenta [cornmeal boiled into a porridge] Mexico tamales [corn-based dough, steamed or boiled in a leaf wrapper] Investigate other ways that corn is eaten around the world. You may be able to draw on knowledge from other countries or cultures from families or their relatives within the school. Try making Curau (a sweet pudding recipe eaten in Brazil) or try a simple but delicious sweetcorn pudding. This recipe can be found at: http://realfood.tesco.com/recipes/sweetcorn-pudding.html Get the children to find and collect corn recipes and put them together in a book. Corny jokes and kernels of knowledge Download and print this fun sheet or display one corny joke each day! Encourage the children to think of their own jokes and puns involving corn vocabulary. The kernels of knowledge are a top ten of interesting corn facts. Ask the children to read and order them from what they think are the most to the least interesting facts. Get them to produce their own top corn facts. (Cornyjokes_7-11_Sweetcorn.Extend.pdf) Mazes Ask the children if they have ever visited a maze and if so, to recount their experiences. Tell them that corn plants are often used to create mazes and if possible, look at some pictures. (photopack_5-11_sweetcorn) They are sometimes created with incredibly intricate patterns and can be very tricky to negotiate and find your way around. There are free printable maze puzzles available at krazydad.com/mazes/ ranging from easy to super tough. Once the children have tried some of the puzzles, see if they can create their own. Maths ENGLAND SCOTLAND WALES NORTHERN IRELAND Recognise the per cent symbol (%) and understand that per cent relates to number of parts per hundred. I have investigated the everyday contexts in which simple fractions, percentages or decimal fractions are used and can carry out the necessary calculations to solve related problems. Use fractions and percentages to estimate, describe and compare proportions of a whole; calculate fractions and percentages of quantities. Understand and use vulgar fractions, decimal fractions and percentages and explore the relationships between them. D and T Understand and apply the principles of a healthy and varied diet. Prepare and cook a variety of predominantly savoury dishes using a range of cooking techniques. Understand seasonality, and know where and how a variety of ingredients are grown, reared, caught and processed. When preparing and cooking a variety of foods, I am becoming aware of the journeys which foods make from source to consumer, their seasonality, their local availability and their sustainability. By investigating food labelling systems, I can begin to understand how to use them to make healthy food choices. Understand the need for a variety of foods and exercise for human good health. Understand the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, including physical activity, healthy eating, rest and hygiene. tesco.com/eathappyproject 5