Written by: Zaid Saleh, Humanities Teacher & Amy Yang, Secondary Head of Chinese Department
How and why do local cuisines develop? In this Project Based Learning (PBL) Unit, throughresearch and investigation, student teams determinedpossible causes, including those related to physical and human geography, history and culture, and reviewedfindings of studies that have already focused on this issue to date.Vandy Wang of 8B noted, “Watching documentaries on Chinese cuisine was very entertaining and inspiring. The small groups worked really well, making communication and collaboration easier.”
The unit was launched with a food tasting event for the students, where they were given an opportunity to try foods which were prepared skillfully by our Century Park Campus Chefs. There were no less than 16 dishes on offer, two from each of the eight famous regions of China. Lily Kent of 8B said of this event “discovering through tasting was a great experience whilst learning about the country I live in”. After this event, the students generated a set of ‘Need to Know’ (NTK) questions as guidance for their research. Many questions were generated from this process including questions around regional produce, diet in a historical/religious context, climate, agricultural methods, culture and technology, trade and eco issues, as well as demographic and socioeconomic reasons, including the advent of migration and globalisation.
The next phase was to explore educational tools. The student teams worked collaboratively on deciding on a relevant format or media to include in the presentation, and ones that would engage and educate the audience. They worked together and drafted their products,continually reflecting on their original NTKs. Nicholas Shaw of 8B noted,“teamwork, organising time and reflection was a valuable skill we all developed through this unit”. The unit culminated with the students connecting to an authentic real-life audience of food tasters, whilst delivering their findings with an open product and a set of eight unique presentations.
