Using food to capture students' imaginations, Science and Our Food Supply teaches the scientific principles of all aspects of food safety, from the farm to the dinner table and introduces students to the wide variety of careers in food science.

This program was developed to respond to the public health concern about foodborne illness. "Every year, we estimate that 76 million people fall sick from foodborne illness--325,000 of them are hospitalized and 5,000 will die," said Dr. Bernard Schwetz, Acting Principal Deputy Commissioner of Food and Drugs for the FDA.

"We must reduce these numbers. One way to prevent illness is to teach today's teens about safe food handling habits they can practice throughout their lives. We found a unique and effective approach: Teach it through science."

"Another reason for targeting a food safety program to teens is that more high school students are employed in restaurants than any other industry, yet they often begin teir jobs with little information about food safety and ways they can prevent foodborne illness," said Joseph Levitt, Director, FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN). "Since American consumers now spend 50 percent of their food dollars on food prepared by others--like take out and restaurant meals, it is critical that food eaten outside the home is safely prepared."

Prior to starting work on this project, research was conducted about how to effectively reach teens with important messages about food safety. With home economic classes dwindling in numbers and health classes focused on other topics, results indicated that science class was the moste effective way to reach all students.

Science and Our Food Supply introduces middle and high school students to the fundamentals of microbiology while at the same time imparting important public health information. Students learn about bacterial growth and how pathogens pose a risk of causing illness; how practices on the farm, such as safe composting, can lead to safer crops; how food processing technologies such as ultra-high temperature paasteurization, are leading to new products; and how safe food handling practices in restaurants and at home can reduce foodborne illness.

Offered free to science educators, Science and Our Food Supply has three components designed to provide a variety of learning opportunities for students. Teacher guides, one each for middle level and high school students, contain 16 hands-on experiments and activities and are present in five different modules: Understanding Bacteria; Farm, Processing and Transportation; Retail and Home; Outbreak; and Future Technology.

To reinforce the activities and experiments, the program includes a 46-minute video, Dr. X and the Quest for Food Safety, which was recently nominated for an Emmy Award by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The video features a savvy food scientist who leads students on a journey through the food supply chain, exploring behind-the-scenes research in laboratories and profiling scientists in food safety careers. Also included is a Food Safety from A to Z Reference Guide with frequently asked questions, fun facts, helpful tips, and more. Science and Our Food Supply can be easily incorporated into biology, life science and other science classes.

"As educators, we are always looking for effective ways to teach science by making topics relevant to students' lives," said Gerry Wheeler, NSTA Executive Director. "Whether it's preparing food at a restaurant or at home, students have a direct relationship with food. Science and Our Food Supply engages students in learning good science and also helps them discover what it means to be a food scientist."

Science and Our Food Supply uses an inquiry-based learning approach as set forth by the National Science Education Standards and involves students in hands-on activities based on good scientific methods and laboratory practices. In one experiment, students observe, recrod and graph bacterial growth in hamburgers that they cook to various temperatures. Another experiement helps students understand the pasteurization process by having them test and compare unpasteurized and pasteurized fruit juice.

The program also incorporates sciLINKS(sm), an NSTA program that links supplemental resource material, including specific subjects in Science and Our Food Supply, to rich Internet resources for educators.

To prepare teachers to use Science and Our Food Supply in the classroom, professional development workshops are being offered to middle level and high school science educators. Teachers discover ways to use the program's lessons and materials to engage students in science, ideas for incorporating the program into the science curriculum and methods for training other teachers.

Teachers also work with and learn from top FDA scientists about the latest research in food science and safety and about careers in the food safety arena and they tour FDA research facilities and conduct hands-on experiments contained in the program. One hundred teachers have already participated in the workshop and more will be invited to participate next summer.

To receive a copy of the Science and Our Food Supply Program, teachers are asked to complete a request form on the NSTA Web site at www.nsta.org/professionalinfo. Requests can also be mailed to NSTA, Science and Our Food Supply, 1840 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22201-3000, or faxed to (703) 522-5413.

FDA is responsible for promoting and protecting the public's health by ensuring that the nation's food supply-domestic and imported products-are safe, sanitary, wholesome and honestly labeled.

Founded in 1944, the Arlington-based National Science Teachers Association is the nation's largest science teachers organization, promoting excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all. Its 53,000-plus members include science teachers of all grade levels, science supervisors, administrators, scientists, business and industry representatives and others involved in science education.