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We’ve gathered a selection of resources to use with children aged 5-7 years and those aged 7-11 during British Science Week 2025. To align with this year’s theme, ‘change and adapt’, these resources focus on farming and processing, helping children understand why and how food is changed to make it safe to eat. At the bottom of the page, you’ll also find a selection of recipes that are perfect to use with primary-aged children. Why not let them explore the ingredients then experiment with making some adaptations?
Change and adapt: Farming and processing (5-7 years)
Activity 1 - Food is changed from ‘farm to fork’ to make it safe to eat
Show children the Can I eat it? presentation (below).
Use the presentation to help children understand that we cannot eat food straight from its source, e.g. farm, sea, it has to be changed in some way. Sometimes it is just changed in a small way, such as being washed or peeled. Sometimes it has to be cooked or treated. Establish that these changes are made to make food safe to eat.
Give children the What’s changed? cards (below). The children can cut out, match and stick the foods in their books. They can then write a few words to describe what has changed for each food.
Answers:
- Broccoli: pick, cut, wash cook;
- Potatoes: wash, cook;
- Cucumber: pick, wash, cut;
- Chicken: cook;
- Beef: shape, cook;
- Strawberries: pick, wash, cut;
- Cod: cut, coat (with breadcrumbs), cook.
Activity 2 - ‘Farm to fork’ stages for some basic foods
Show the Magnificent milk, Tasty tomatoes and Earthy potatoes videos and, in simple terms, talk about the different stages the food goes through before it can be eaten.
Show children the Journey cards (below). Explain that they need to sequence the cards to show the different steps, from farm to fork, for different types of foods. Demonstrate the activity to the children.
Cards for the following foods include:
- cereals
- milk
- potatoes
- lamb
- apples
- eggs
Allow the children to work through this activity individually.
Recap with the children.
- Can we always eat food straight from a farm?
- Why not?
Before we eat food it has to be changed. Sometimes this might simply mean washing it, but it can also include cutting, milling, cooking and heat treating.
What happens to some of our foods before we eat them?
- Carrots in the ground;
- Wheat in the field;
- Milk from a cow.
Further activities
Organise a cooking session with the children to reinforce the changes food goes through before it is eaten. For example, you could make some Soda bread to show how flour can be used after it has been produced from wheat. Use the Soda bread video and Soda bread recipe (below) to show children how it is done.
You could also show other videos and their accompanying recipes as examples of dishes using foods the children have been learning about:
- Welsh rarebit video – cheese
- Crunchy winter salad video – carrot and apple
Can I eat it?
A presentation exploring what has to happen to food before it can be eaten.
What's changed cards
Cards looking at changes from farm to fork.
Cereals - the journey cards
An activity looking at where food comes from.
Milk - the journey cards
An activity looking at where food comes from.
Potatoes - the journey cards
An activity looking at where food comes from.
Lamb - the journey cards
An activity looking at where food comes from.
Apples - the journey cards
An activity looking at where food comes from.
Eggs - the journey cards
An activity looking at where food comes from.
Change and adapt: Farming and processing - 7-11 years
Activity 1 - Food is processed to make it edible and safe.
Show the children the Processing food from land and sea presentation (below). This shows a variety of food and asks children to suggest the food origins.
Question the children:
- Where does each food start (its origin)?
- What happens to it before it reaches us?
- What processes has it been through?
Show children the Crunchy peppers, Sunny sweetcorn and Remarkable rice videos to increase their understanding of what happened to these foods before they reach us. Question the children to ensure they understand the stages.
Looking for more examples? You can find all our From farm to fork videos here.
Activity 2 - We process food at home to make it edible and safe.
To demonstrate how we process food at home to make it edible and safe, show children a range of foods and ask them to discuss what needs to be done to each so it is ready to eat.
You could use the Processing food to make it edible and safe presentation (below) or place the following foods in a shopping bag:
- a small bag of flour;
- a carrot;
- a potato;
- a small box of eggs.
For each food, pose the following questions to the children:
- Can we eat this now? Why not?
- What do we have to do before we can eat it? (It may have to be washed, peeled, combined with other ingredients and/or cooked.)
- Why do we have to wash ingredients? (To remove any dirt or insects and ensure they are clean.)
- Why do we have to cook foods, such as eggs and meat? (To destroy any harmful bacteria and make them safe to eat.)
- Which of these ingredients have you eaten?
- Name five examples of dishes which can be made with this food.
Show children some or all of the following videos:
Question the children:
- What ingredients were used?
- What happened to each ingredient?
- What processes does each ingredient have to go through before it is eaten?
Give children a copy of the What’s happening? worksheet (below) so they can record how one of the dishes was made.
Allow the children to make one of the recipes suggested. As the cooking takes place, question the children about the processes the ingredients are going through. For guidance and support setting up cooking lessons, find out more with these resources Food hygiene and safety practices.
Processing food from land and sea
A presentation exploring the basic food processes from growing, rearing and catching our food.
Processing food to make it edible and safe
A presentation looking at what has do be done to food in order to made it edible and safe to eat.
What's happening? worksheet
A worksheet for pupils to show the stages about how a recipe was made.
Farming food for you - dairy
A poster about the dairy farm and farmer.
Farming food for you - beef cattle
A poster about the beef cattle farm and farmer.
Farming food for you - sheep
A poster about the sheep farm and farmer.
Farming food for you - potatoes
A poster about the potato farm and farmer.
Farming food for you - cereals
A poster about the cereal farm and farmer.
Farming food for you - pigs
A poster about the pig farm and farmer.
Why not let children change and adapt some of our recipes?
These recipes are perfect to use with children aged 5-11. You can let them change and adapt the ingredients, to suit their personal preferences or dietary requirements.
For more recipes, visit our Recipe area.
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