More Thought For Food Required

Better Equipped are pleased to announce the launch of our latest food technology catalogue which features a significantly larger range of products to help bring food technology lessons to life.

‘There’s no doubt just how important food technology is as a subject’ said a company spokesperson, ‘ we live in a time where there’s a tremendous enthusiasm amongst all ages for food programmes such as Masterchef but at the same time we have rising incidence of obesity and declining levels of understanding of both what is meant by a balanced diet and more fundamentally where food actually comes from. It’s clear there’s a knowledge gap around food provenance, preparation and positive nutrition and at the same time there’s an opportunity to  harness enthusiasm for cookery programmes in order to educate school children about food fundamentals. In short Food technology lessons can play a critical role in providing more thought for food.”

Recent research by the Global Insight Agency ‘Future Foundation’ shows that for example over half of children questioned believe that potatoes count towards their ‘five-a-day’ total, and perhaps more surprisingly that 10 per cent also think carrot cake counts. Research last year by the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) also revealed that approximately 30% of primary school children thought cheese came from plants and nearly one fifth believed fish fingers were from chicken.

As well as almost doubling the number of products featured, our latest brochure also features both everyday low prices and some great promotions to help schools get the most out of their budgets. We hope that the launch of a new Larger Food Technology Range will in some small way help enable engaging food technology lessons and help to fill the Gaps in knowledge around where our food comes from and what exactly is meant by a balanced diet.

Helping To Bring The Science of DNA Into The Classroom

We are pleased to introduce the second of three new Science Catalogues for 2014 which amongst other highlights includes a big increase in the number of Biotechnology products featured.

Out now, our summer term brochure sees the size of our Edvotek Biotechnology range double and introduces new products such as ‘Mystery of the Crooked Cell’ and ‘M12 Electrophoresis Apparatus’ to a range which already features resources such as ‘What Does DNA Look Like’,  ‘DNA Fingerprinting Made simple’ as well as fundamental pieces of equipment such as PCR machines and UV Transilluminators’.

There’s no doubt that many students possess an inherent interest in the study of DNA, in part fueled by programmes such as C.S.I. but there’s also a belief by some that it’s ‘out of reach’ science for them. This new larger range of biotechnology equipment is aimed to help bring the subject of DNA to life, make it engaging, easier to understand and of course affordable for schools. 

Using biotechnology resources from our range is a great way to make learning engaging and memorable. Our kits take the complex subject of DNA for example and apply the science in a way that helps students to absorb the information, and appreciate its use and value in the real world. There are plenty of studies that suggest children find it easier to learn when they are doing something practical, and biotechnology kits are the perfect way to do this. By expanding our range we hope that in some small way we can help convert students interest in the subject of biotechnology & DNA into learning and understanding of the subject.

Using History to Bring Science to Life

An article by Andrew Holding in the Guardian stuck a chord with our own experiences of learning science as a child and also seemed to reflect the enthusiasm for certain science lessons seen in today’s students.

The essence of Andrew holdings article is that 'Neglecting the rich history of science when teaching it is a missed opportunity to connect the subject to the world around us.'

Andrew states that teaching the stories and characters behind scientific discoveries makes the difference when engaging students on a particular topic. ‘Storytelling is nothing new and has played a role in education for centuries, if not millennia. But with the pressure of working towards examination, many teachers and students lament the lack of time spent beyond the syllabus. The stories and characters behind the science are often as fascinating as the science itself, or sometimes just mind-bogglingly strange.’

Sharing the real life stories behind the science is a technique the producers of TV docu-dramas would use and that’s why the often manage engage the masses in what would otherwise be viewed by much of the audience as pretty dry subject matter – it’s the human angle which brings the subject of the science to life and which enables the subject to connect and cut through with it’s audience.

A great case in hand is the 100+ year journey to the discovery of DNA and all the individuals involved in this journey, starting in 1869 when Swiss biochemist Friedrich Miescher isolated a new substance from the nuclei of white blood cells through to James Watson and Francis Crick’s paper of 61 years ago. Studying the history of each step on this journey will surely help engage students and help cement a better understanding of the science behind DNA.