|This lesson is discrete and can be taught
as a single lesson or in conjunction with others in this series.
The Teacher Resources include pre-and
post-tests for this lesson; these may be used at the teacher's
discretion. The lesson includes four activities.
- Students will develop an awareness that bacteria
- Students will learn where bacteria live and what
bacteria need to grow, survive, and reproduce.
- Students will understand
how to control bacteria in food.
- Students will learn an estimate
of the number of people affected with foodborne illnesses in
the United States.
- Students will understand that it's everyone's
responsibility to control the spread of bacteria—from the
farmer, food processor, persons who transports the food, people
who work in
markets and restaurants,
to the consumer.
- Food Safety
A to Z Reference Guide * (See the following terms—Bacteria, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, Deoxyribonucleic Acid, Escherichia
Farm-to-Table Continuum, Foodborne Illness, Four Steps to Food
Safety, Pathogen, pH.) Also see the 4Cs section beginning on
and Our Food Supply: Investigating Food Safety
from Farm to Table: Teacher's Guide for High School Level Science
- Food Safety Farm to Table* for each student from Food
Safety A to Z Reference Guide* (http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/a2z-toc.html).
- Dr. X and the Quest for Food Safety video, Module 1, Understanding
*Publications and videos listed above may be obtained
from the National Science Teacher's
This lesson was drawn from module
1 in Science and Our Food Supply: Investigating Food Safety from
Farm to Table: Teacher's Guide for High School Science Classroom
(National Science Teacher's Association).
This innovative and supplemental curriculum introduces students
to the fundamentals of microbiology while at the same time imparting
important public health information.
The curricula found in Science Our Food Supply were developed
in cooperation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
curriculum that you will be using draws only from public health
lessons—not laboratory lessons—which are also available
in Science and Our Food Supply. The lessons have all been tested
by an experienced team of middle level teachers and meet National
Science Education Standards.