Foods and Nutrition - Grade 4 Home Science Notes

• Choosing Foods
  • What items do we buy from a general grocery?
  • What do we consider when choosing foods from a general grocery?
  • Exercise
• Variety in the diet.
  • What foods are available in our locality?
  • How do we classify foods?
  • What is variety in the diet?
  • Exercise
• Preservation Of Milk.
  • What are the sources of milk in our locality?
  • Why do we preserve milk?
  • Reasons for preserving milk.
  • How do we preserve milk?
  • Using different methods to preserve milk.
    • Preserving milk by boiling it.
    • Preserving milk by fermenting it.
  • Exercise
• Fragile Kitchen Utensils.
  • What are the uses of the various kitchen utensils?
  • Which kitchen utensils are fragile?
  • Which materials do we use to clean fragile kitchen utensils?
    • Cleaning a glass
    • Cleaning a thermo flask
    • How do we clean,dry and store earthen and ceramic utensils?
      • How to clean a clay pot.
      • How to clean a ceramic cup
      • How to clean a gourd.
  • Safety when cleaning fragile utensils.
  • Exercise
• Cooking Food.
  • Why do we cook food?
  • What hygiene practices should we observe when cooking food?

Choosing Foods

What items do we buy from a general grocery?

• A general grocery is a shop that sells food items and small household goods.
• A grocery shop that sells fruits and vegetables is known a green grocery.

What do we consider when choosing foods from a general grocery?

• The type of material the packaging is made of
• The weight of the item that has been packaged
• The price of the item that has been packaged.
• The date of expiry written on the package.

Exercise

1. You have ksh 500 to buy the items below at the nearby grocery shop
   1 packet of maize flour at Kshs 120,1 litre milk at Kshs 60, 1 loaf of bread at Kshs 50 and 1 bunch of spinach at Kshs 10 each.
   1. Prepare a shopping list.
   2. How much money will you use to pay for all the items?
   3. When receiving your balance, the grocery gives you ksh 20 more. What should you dowith the extra ksh 20?
2. What would you look for when buying a packet of maize flour from a grocery shop?
3. Write two things that would happen if there was no grocery shop in your village or town.

Variety in the diet.

What foods are available in our locality?

• The pictures below show the foods that are available in our locality.

How do we classify foods?

• Foods can be classified into three groups
• Foods that give us energy
  Potatoes, maize, rice, yams, ugali, sorghum.
• Body building foods
  Meat, chicken, fish, beans, milk, green gram
• Protective foods
  Mangoes, oranges, kales, spinach, cabbage, kunde, managu

What is variety in the diet?

• Variety in the diet means eating foods from the three food groups.
• A healthy meal has variety. It contains foods fry the three groups in the right amount. This is called a balanced meal or a balanced diet.

Exercise

1. Who am I?
   1. I am oval in shape and white in colour can break easily.
   2. You give me to babies. I am good for your teeth too.
   3. Monkeys love to eat me. I turn yellow when I am ripe.
2. Look at the list of food items below.
   Cassava, groundnut, watermelon, beans, orange, potato, water
   Pick one food item to complete the form groups given below.
   1. Ripe bananas, cabby, apple,______
   2. Rice, ugali, chapati,_______
   3. Meat, fish, milk,__________
3. What is a balanced meal?
4. Amoit loves to eat chips and sausages, and to drink soda. She is very happy with her choice of food.
   1. Is there variety in Amoit's meal? What is missing?
   2. Do you think Amoit has chosen healthy food to eat? Why?
   3. What would you choose for Amoit to eat?

Preservation Of Milk.

What are the sources of milk in our locality.

• We get milk from various sources in our locality. We get milk from vendors, shops and dairy farmers.

Why do we preserve milk?

• Fresh milk should be preserved because it goes bad easily
• When it goes bad, it goes to waste.

Reasons for preserving milk.

1. To prevent it from getting spoilt.
2. To prevent wastage
3. To make it last longer
4. To make it easy to store and transport.

How do we preserve milk?

They are different methods of preserving milk.

1. Boil the milk. Boiling kills germs that make milk to go bad.
2. Put the milk in a refrigerator. The low temperatures prevent the milk from going bad.
3. Ferment the milk. Fermented milk can be used for a longer time than fresh milk.
4. You can also use a home made cooler to preserve milk.

Using different methods to preserve milk.

• Preserving milk by boiling it.

  You will need: a clean sufuria, a jiko, fresh milk and a sieve.
  1. Sieve the fresh milk into a clean sufuria.
  2. Light the jiko and place the sufuria the fire.
  3. Heat the milk until it starts to rise.
  4. Lower the heat and let the milk boil for about one minute.
  5. Remove the sufuria in a clean place and let the milk cool.
  6. Once the milk is cool, cover it with a lid.
     
     

• Preserving milk by fermenting it.

  You will need: fresh boiled milk, a gourd or a plastic container.
  1. Pour the fresh milk in a gourd or plastic container plastic container.
  2. Cover the mouth of the gourd or the container tightly using a lid or cock.
  3. Keep the container or the gourd in a warm place.
  4. Do not disturb the milk for around two days to allow it to ferment.
  5. Shake it before you serve it.

Exercise

1. Name the sources of milk in your locality.
2. Why do we preserve milk.
3. Name two uses of milk in our bodies.
4. The pictures below show some methods of preserving milk.
   
   
   1. Name the methods.
   2. How does each method help to preserve the milk?

Fragile Kitchen Utensils.

What are the uses of the various kitchen utensils?

Which kitchen utensils are fragile?

• Kitchen utensils are made from different materials. Some kitchen utensils break easily. Other kitchen utensils do not break easily. Utensils that break easily are called fragile utensils.
• Fragile utensils are made of glass, earthenware and ceramic material.
• Gourds are also fragile. Earthenware and ceramic utensils are made of clay.
• The pictures below show some fragile kitchen utensils.

Which materials do we use to clean fragile kitchen utensils?

• How do we clean,dry and store glasses and thermo flask?

Cleaning a glass

• You will need: a glass,a ponge,sisal fibre or a soft cloth,two basins, warm water,a dish cloth,dish rack.

Procedure

1. Put some warm water in a basin
2. Wet the glass and sponge.
3. Apply some soap on the sponge.
4. Wash the glass gently in the warm water. Scrub the inside and outside of the glass.
5. Rinse it properly in clean water.
6. Wipe it using a dish cloth so as to make it shine. You can also place the glass upside down on a dish rack to dry.
7. Store the glass safely in a cupboard.

Cleaning a thermo flask

• You will need: a thermo flask,a sponge,a soft cloth,two basins, soap,warm water, dishcloth and a dish rack.

Procedure

1. Put some clean warm water in a basin.
2. Apply soap on a sponge,sisal pad or soft cloth and put it in the flask
3. Pour some of the warm soapy water in the flask and shake it gently.
4. Pour the soapy water and the sponge back in to the basin
5. Scrub the outside of the flask and the mouth of the flask, clean the lid.
6. Rinse the flask and the lid in clean warm water.
7. Dry the flask on a dish rack
8. Store the thermo flask safely in a cupboard once dry.

How do we clean,dry and store earthen and ceramic utensils?

• How to clean a clay pot.
  You will need: a basin,warm water and a sisal pad or a dry maiza cob.
  
  1. Put some water in the pot .Leave it in the pot for a few minutes to sock.
  2. Scrape off the food remains using a sisal pad or a dry maize cob.
  3. Pour out the dirty water.
  4. Put some clean water in the pot.Scrub the inside and then the outside of the pot using a pad of sisal fibre.
  5. Rinse the pot using clean warm water.
  6. Dry the pot upside down on a drying rack.
  7. When it is dry ,store it upside down on a storage rack, or keep it standing in a safe corner.
     
     
• How to clean a ceramic cup
  You will need: a ceramic cup, soap,a sponge,a soft cloth or a pad of sisal fibre,warm water,two basins and a utensil rack.
  1. Put some clean warm water in a basin
  2. Apply some soap on a sponge
  3. Dip the cup in warm water. Use the sponge to gently scrub the cupon the inside and on the outside.
  4. Rinse the cup properly in Clean warm water.
  5. Dry the cup on a rack
  6. Once it is dry,store it safely in a cupboard.

• How to clean a gourd.
  You will need: a gourd,warm water,a basin, small stones and a sponge or sisal pad.
  1. Put some small stones in the gourd.
  2. Add some clean warm water.
  3. Shake gourd gently several times.
  4. Pour out the water and the small stones.
  5. Scrub the outside of the gourd with a sponge or sisal pad.
  6. Rinse the gourd with the warm water until it is clean
  7. Dry the gourd upside down on a rack. Ensure it is safe.
  8. When it is dry,store it on a rack ,or hang it on a wall using string.

Safety when cleaning fragile utensils.

1. Handle fragile utensils with care.
2. Do not stack glasses
3. Wash one utensils at a time
4. Wash the utensils using a soft material.
5. Do not put glasses in very hot water.
6. Do not use soap when cleaning clay pots and gourds.
7. Always dry gourds and earthen utensils well before storage.
8. Store fragile utensils safely away from the reach of children.

Exercise

1.          
   1. Name three fragile kitchen utensils you use at your home.
   2. Write two things you should do when cleaning glasses to make sure they do not break
2. You have been asked to show the Learners in your class how to wash a glass.
   1. Write down three materials you will use
   2. How will you reuse the water after washing?

Cooking Food.

Why do we cook food?

• We cook food to become soft
• We cook food so that it can be easier to eat
• We cook food for easier digestion
• We cook food for it to taste good
• We cook food to kill germs
• We cook food for it to last longer.

What hygiene practices should we observe when cooking food?

1. Wear clean clothes when cooking.
2. Cooking food properly
3. Washing hands before touching Food.
4. Covering head with a cap and wear on apron.
5. Cook and serve food in Clean utensils.
6. Cover cooked food and keep it in a clean place.