Transfats+in+Manufactured+Foods

Trans-fats in Manufactured Foods This issue relates to food manufacturers’ use of trans-fats in many kinds of foods, including as ingredients in cookies, cereals, drink mixes (e.g., chocolate drink mix) and as the major substance for certain food items, such as margarine and shortening. Generally, a trans-fat is a fatty substance made from oils. Fatty substances usually come from animals and are more solid-like at room temperatures (they have relatively low melting points), while oils often come from plants. Oils can be made into trans-fats by having hydrogen gas bubbled into them, which causes the oils to change, chemically, and become more like fats. Manufacturers find that it can be less expensive to use trans-fats than animal fats. But, research suggests that people who eat foods with trans-fats in them increase their risk of getting heart attacks and strokes and, possibly, cancer, obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer’s Disease, liver disorders and infertility. __ Student Activities __ : Students could brainstorm about their experiences with trans-fats, vegetable oil shortening, margarine, etc. WISE activist choices should be left to students, often in collaboration with peers. WISE Activism projects are to be ‘student-directed’ and ‘open-ended.’ This space should be used for providing examples of what students: i) could do and ii) have done. We have identified at least five kinds of activism that could be illustrated here: __ Changing Personal Beliefs and Choices __ : · Students can avoid eating snack foods, such as potato chips, that have trans-fats or vegetable oil shortening __ Educating Others __ : · Students could produce posters, messages on the morning announcements, stickers, etc. that ask students questions like, ‘Why Eat Oily-Fat?’ __ Lobbying Power-brokers __ : · Students could write letters and/or petition the regional Superintendent of Schools urging a school ban of foods containing trans-fats __ Provide Alternative Technologies/Services __ : · Students could invent/develop a healthy snack food, made out of natural (and, perhaps, locally-available) ingredients and urge other students to eat those instead of junk foods from school vending machines. [Note: This is an example of a ‘bright green’ approach.] __ Disrupting WISE Issues __ : · Students could arrange ‘clogging tactics,’ such as having supporters ‘innocently’ crowd the space(s) in front of school vending machines dispensing junk foods. ** PRIMARY RESEARCH ** (i.e., student-generated data/findings, etc) || ** SECONDARY RESEARCH ** (i.e., student-located data/findings, etc.) || ** Teacher Instruction ** || ** Student Activities ** || // Students could be urged/required to conduct student-directed, open-ended science inquiry projects that would investigate possible problems relating to trans-fats. Often, these are in the form of correlational studies, because possible outcomes of experiments could be harmful to test organisms. // Students could, for example, carry out a study of the relationship between age and ‘trans-fat’ consumption – by, for example, recording foods purchased in a set period of time, noting the purchasers’ ages and calculating trans-fat consumption. || // Students could be urged/required to research and organize STSE and NoST information relating to trans-fats. They could be given time in the computer facility in the school and in the library to do this. // They might, for instance, note the kinds of foods containing trans-fats, research suggesting links to heart disease, etc. and the influence of corporations on scientists and engineers working in fields relating to trans-fat production and effects on human health. || This issue might fit within a bio-chemistry unit of a biology course. The teacher can use lecturing and, perhaps, Socratic questioning, to teach students about carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, minerals, vitamins in foods and in living things. These lessons – and, indeed, the activities at right – should be linked to WISE issues, suggesting to students, for example, that learning this ‘content’ can help address issues. || After lessons about them (rather than as ‘discovery’ activities), students could be engaged in ‘labs’ involving various bio-chemicals, such as: · Building ball and stick models of them; · Exploring their physical properties in different media; · Exploring their energy/mole values. || // Students likely will need a range of skills associated with science and technology – including that related to STSE and NoST discussions – that they can use for all of the above aspects of STEPWISE. // // Skills that students should develop are many and varied. They should include traditional skills for ‘science inquiry, technology design and related communications, such as those at: [|Science & Technology Strategies]. Some great work along these lines has been done by Richard Gott and co-workers, such as at: [|Scientific Evidence]. But, students should also develop skills in related areas, such as for WISE Activism; including, for example, letter-writing skills. Pedagogical approaches for helping students to develop such skills also are quite diverse. Some suggestions along these lines are available at [|Skills Education]. However, many of these still need to be edited to turn them into ‘WISE Skills Education,’ meaning that examples used in the activities relate to WISE Issues. // ||
 * Introduction **
 * Wise Activism **
 * Science and Technology Education Resources **
 * Wise Skills Education **