Description
Bundle containing all the materials required for the Ginger Beer Science Project unit, which can be run independently by the classroom teacher, or with guided workshops by an OpenSTEM facilitator.
- Teacher handbook (PDF)
- Student workbook (PDF)
- Observation Checklist (PDF)
- (optional/recommended) classroom kit (physical resource)
- (optional) workshop facilitation (Brisbane region only)
The teacher handbook does not contain a strict lesson plan, it covers a number of topics (colour-coded for curriculum strands) to help the teacher guide the project. The project can be limited to being mostly science, or expanded using the included materials and workbook to include Mathematics, Economics and Business, and Design & Technologies. The creation of advertising material for the ginger beer sold at school addresses the literacy strand of the English curriculum. The Scientific Investigation delves deeper in to the Science while building skills using inquiry based learning. The teacher can just print the parts of the student handbook that are needed at any time.
The project is built and extended with the input of schools where the initial workshops were run, and will be further developed to potentially cover all subject areas during an entire term, to provide teachers with a very broad project opportunity for their classroom. Detailed curriculum mapping, model answers and assessment guides will be made available also to any teacher/school purchasing the project unit. A special mailing list is available for support, feedback and exchanging ideas regarding this unit.
Multi-Year Level Integration
This unit covers curriculum strands for Science, Maths, English, Design and Technologies for Years 4, 5 and 6, with some elements of Year 7. It also covers Economics and Business for Years 5 and 6. It can be run by classes containing any combination of these year levels. The material is explained in careful detail, so as to remain accessible for students at all levels. It provides reinforcement of concepts for students in years 5, 6 and 7, whilst introducing Year 4 students to concepts which will be important in later years. Teachers can guide younger students or those who are struggling with the more advanced concepts. In our experience, the practical, hands-on nature of the activities means that students are able to grasp far more advanced concepts than is usual in straight book work.
Indi Alford, Teacher –
Our class created ginger beer with the help of the ginger beer kit. The children were really engaged with the content, and the project was very authentic. It was great to see how much they remembered about the life cycle of yeast, and the process behind the fermentation of the ginger. We sold our finished product to help raise money to buy another kit, and the children were so pleased to have ownership of such an interesting project with real-life applications! The science, English and maths built in to the project also helped save time with our multi-age class. Thanks a million! Great resource 🙂