Overview

Students launch Food Science & Dietetics by defining food science and dietetics, examining the role of evidence in nutrition, and practicing professional laboratory expectations. They analyze a short technical procedure, identify hazards and controls, and organize information into a clear safety plan.

Learning intentions

Students will be able to:

• Explain how food science and dietetics support health, safety, and industry.
• Follow and interpret a multistep laboratory safety procedure precisely.
• Organize technical information using headings, categories, and a decision table.
• Use evidence to justify safe and professional laboratory behavior.
• Communicate as an accurate, collaborative, and ethical food professional.

Success criteria

• I can distinguish food science from dietetics and give one career example for each.
• I can identify hazards, controls, and required actions in a laboratory procedure.
• I can organize safety information so another student can use it.
• I can explain why professional conduct protects people, products, and data.

Curriculum links

• Literacy in science and technical subjects: organize complex information with headings, tables, and other formats to aid comprehension.
• Reading technical texts: follow a complex multistep procedure and analyze results or consequences based on the text.
• Reading science and technical subjects: analyze how information is arranged into categories and hierarchies.
• Mathematical Practice: make sense of a problem, plan a solution pathway, monitor progress, and check whether conclusions make sense.

Lesson structure (90 minutes)

1. 0–8 min · Bell work and hook. Display the opening prompt in the course launch and hook deck: “A food product looks clean and tastes good. Is it automatically safe?” Students write an initial claim and one question, then share with a partner. Teacher records several questions without confirming answers.

2. 8–20 min · Course connection and direct instruction. Use the food science, dietetics, and careers slides to introduce the course theme, major investigations, career pathways, and expectations for A/B instruction. Students create two-column notes defining food science as the study and application of food properties, processing, quality, and safety, and dietetics as the evidence-based application of nutrition to health and care. Students identify one possible career connection, such as food product developer, quality assurance technician, registered dietitian, or community nutrition professional.

3. 20–35 min · Technical reading and modeling. Teacher distributes the laboratory professionalism and safety analysis worksheet and models how to read a procedure: preview the goal, locate equipment and hazards, number actions, and identify a verification point. Using a brief handwashing-and-workstation procedure on the worksheet, teacher thinks aloud about why sequence matters. Students annotate action verbs, safety warnings, measurement or documentation requirements, and the step that confirms the task was completed correctly.

4. 35–53 min · Guided group investigation. In groups of four, students analyze a second procedure, “Prepare a Food Science Workstation,” using the worksheet. Each student takes a role: facilitator, procedure reader, safety analyst, or recorder/reporter. Groups convert the procedure into a four-column table labeled Step, Action, Possible Risk, and Control or Evidence. Teacher circulates, checking that students preserve the original sequence and distinguish a hazard from a control. Groups compare one row with a nearby group and revise if their explanation is unclear or unsupported.

5. 53–68 min · Food science investigation and case study. Present three scenarios from the slides: a student skips handwashing, a group changes a procedure without recording it, and a team notices an unlabeled container. Students use their completed table to determine the immediate action, the professional expectation involved, and the evidence that should be documented. Each group prepares a 30-second recommendation using the frame: “The risk is ___. The correct control is ___. This matters because ___.” Invite several groups to report and ask classmates to challenge or confirm the reasoning.

6. 68–80 min · Independent practice and workplace readiness. Students independently complete the worksheet section “Professional Decision.” They choose one scenario and write a short, organized response with a heading, a clear sequence of actions, and a justification. Require precise workplace language such as observe, report, prevent, document, and verify. Students then complete a self-rating for communication, collaboration, integrity, safety, and time management. Teacher conferences briefly with students whose responses omit sequence or evidence.

7. 80–90 min · Plenary, certification launch, and exit ticket. Return to the opening question through the discussion and exit-ticket slides. Students revise their original claim in light of the lesson. On the final worksheet section, they answer: “Why must a food scientist follow a procedure exactly?” and “Name one action that demonstrates professionalism in a food science laboratory.” Collect responses as the first entry in the Laboratory Passport process and preview that laboratory certification will be earned before practical investigations begin.

Resources

• the course launch and hook deck
• the laboratory professionalism and safety analysis worksheet
• Food for Today, 5th Edition, Chapter 1
• Food Science Lab Safety Toolkit
• Food Science & Safety Ready
• Projector or interactive display
• Pencils or highlighters
• Sample workstation equipment or photographs
• Laboratory Passport records
• Timer

Assessment

• During modeling and group work, check whether students preserve procedure sequence, identify hazards accurately, and propose controls supported by the text.
• Review group tables for complete categories: action, risk, control, and evidence. Use questioning to address confusion between food science and dietetics.
• Use the independent response and exit ticket to assess precise procedure reading, organized technical writing, evidence-based reasoning, and professional vocabulary.

Differentiation

• Provide a partially completed table, numbered procedure steps, bolded action verbs, and sentence starters: “The hazard is…,” “The control prevents…,” and “The evidence would be….”
• Read procedures aloud while students follow the printed text; allow text-to-speech, speech-to-text, enlarged print, or a quiet workspace as required by IEP or 504 plans.
• Pair multilingual learners with supportive peers and provide a small illustrated word bank for hazard, control, contamination, procedure, verify, and document.
• Extend advanced students by asking them to redesign one procedure step for greater efficiency without reducing safety, then justify the change and identify what data must be recorded.