Dunsborough Primary School spark food for thought at Science Week

Dunsborough Primary School students spent Science Week cooking alongside some of the region’s most prominent chefs. Under this year’s theme of Food: Different by Design, students were encouraged to explore the science of food production and sustainable agriculture. Chefs Aaron Carr and Mal Chow began the week with presentations and hands-on learning with students, thanks to the help of the Year 6 leadership team. Science co-ordinator Helen Grigorakis said this year’s theme was a great way for children to get excited about science, technology, engineering and mathematics topics in an alternative and less intimidating way. “Food is a great vehicle for learning science because it has such a great visual chemical change and it’s something we use all the time,” she said. “The kids are already very familiar with it and it’s a great vehicle for them to experiment with on their own at home and to learn to cook, which is an essential life skill as well. “There’s such a wow value in cooking. We see it every day on TV, that gets people excited, and some of these kids haven’t discovered that yet, so it’s a great week to share that with the students.” Students were able to make liquid cheese and use liquid nitrogen to cool fruit rapidly. It was also an opportunity for the school’s Year 6 students to hone their leadership skills as they helped co-ordinate events for younger students. National Science Week aims to encourage people to take an interest in STEM by taking part in science activities, in-person and online events, talks, podcasts, at-home activities and competitions.