2003

Olivier Monteil – 5th Grade Teacher
I am a French teacher who has been working at ISTP for 5 years. Last October, as part of ” La semaine du goût”, I organized a science unit around the theme ” Smell and Taste “. Through hands-on activities involving different beverages, food aromas, and culinary herbs, students learned about how they perceive, discriminate, and memorize flavors.

This was an opportunity for them to learn scientific notions behind tasting food, something they do everyday but know little about. Since these were hands-on activities, they really enjoyed them.

Sincerely, Olivier MONTEIL


Benjamin Gayraud – 4th Grade Teacher
Students in 4th grade Benjamin celebrated Taste Week and the World Cup by exploring the foods of countries participating in the games. Each student selected a country of their choice to research. At the end of the project, students presented the class with a food from the rugby country of their choice.


Heidi Cavanagh – 4th Grade Teacher
Students in 4th Grade Valérie took a tour around the world with their English Teacher Heidi Cavanagh by studying the different culinary specialties of various countries. Each student was assigned a country and then presented the class with the culinary specialty that they felt represented the country.


Sandra Tung – Chinese Teacher
Students in 6th Grade International Baccalaureate Program made Beijing desert “Lu da guner”. They learned about the desert when reading the book “My Memory of Old Beijing”. The ingredients of this desert are sweet rice flour, red bean paste, and soybean powder.
Sincerely, Sandra Tung


Elisabeth Lepert – Science Teacher
Subject : When Chemistry meets Cooking
In October 2003, during the taste week at school, I wanted to make the students discover how to succesfully  make a «  mayonnaise ». They all knew the recipe and they all knew that sometimes when you prepare this sauce it can be either a success or a disaster !

To be successful there are a few tips one must follow. So we reviewed each of them :
  • For example we studied why we have to add some mustard: some students prepared a mayonnaise with mustard and some without. They observed the results with their eyes but also with a miscroscope. They discovered that the mustard forms a bridge between the hidrophyl phase (the eggs) and the hydrophob phase (the oil).
  • On the same principle  we studied how important it is for all the ingredients of the recipe to be at the same temperature.
So it was great for the students to see that chemistry is not only something that we use in laboratory, but also something that exists in their daily life.

At the end of the work, we all tasted the different mayonnaises with some crackers.

Sincerely yours, Elisabeth Lepert
 

Contact Us

International School of the Peninsula
151 Laura Lane
Palo Alto, CA 94303 
(650) 251-8520