STEM Product/Process1:Electric Oven

Description of Electric Oven

One of the priorities in food industry is food safety in the kitchen which means cleanliness is the first priority. A chef must be well groomed, washed and put on the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) before entering the kitchen. At this stage Chef do their Mise en place, meaning preparation.

Mr.Agson and his team uses the Air Morning Electric Oven model to cook pizzas. It is an electrical oven that uses electricity and air circulation to cook pizzas as well as bake or roast other food stuff. According to Agson,it is fast and takes around 8 minutes for a good cook depending on the size and type of pizza.

Mr. Agson introduced me a number of different electric ovens. There are different models of electric oven and they work differently.

The air morning electric oven design inbuilt some of the latest technologies and works the same as any electric ovens, except that you can bypass the thermostat on the selector switch when it is set to broil to a separate electronic thermostat which takes over by reading the resistance of the element that changes as it gets hot, and turns the element off, and then back on as it cools down.

Some people are interested only on what comes out of the oven,either burnt, not cooked or unevenly cooked. They are not interested on how the electric oven works and what components are used to make it work.

The design of different electric ovens are determined by different variables such as:

Designs that create different types of heat very efficiently
Designs that can hold its temperature for a very long time without adding additional or continuous heat.

The electric oven used by Agson and his team of bakers is conventional having a circuitry with a selector switch, a thermostat, a timer with a relay to allow turning on and turning off at certain times for auto cooking, a bake element, a broiling element at the top of the oven cavity, a cooling fan is to circulate the heat from all three elements making it much more even throughout the oven. The heated air circulates around the oven interior and flows over the pizza. This controlled by an air inlet and outlet on the pizza oven design

The pizza electric oven is designed not only to cater for the heat, but also designed to hold its temperature. However, different oven models have a range of temperature capabilities for baking.

The pizza in the oven is heated using the convection method. Some other oven designs may used radiant or conduction method.

The heated air circulates around the oven interior and flows over the pizza. This controlled by an air inlet and outlet on the pizza oven design

The oven is heavily insulated which is essential to the oven’s design, as it allows the intense heat to be retained wholly inside the oven while the exterior remains cool to the touch.

The design is determined by its efficiency and it works by circulating air around the interior of the oven to keep an even temperature throughout which results in an evenly cooked pizza. However , other variables are also considered:

the size or thickness of the pizza - crusts
types of toppings
size and thickness of air fryer

Those variables allows Mr. Agson flexibility to adjust the cooking times and temperatures to those factors. The timing and temperature depends on the size/type of air fryer and the brand of personal pizza. The electric oven design allows him to cook 12 pizzas at once.

Mr Agson explaining one of the electric oven used in the the hotel

ANALYSIS USING THE NESTING DOLL FRAMEWORK

ANALYSIS OF PIZZA ELECTRIC OVEN

It was challenging to make sense of STEM and think systematically about the relationships between the STEM disciplines when I tried to analyse the different STEM concepts and practices applied by experts in the design and also the use of the pizza electric/conventional oven using Lyons (2018) Nesting Doll Framework. There were two areas (design of the pizza electric/conventional oven and its usage) that were considered when looking at the connections, relationship, overlaps and boundaries across STEM discipline areas. However, more consideration was given on the use of the product and how the four disciplines go together when analyzed using the Nesting Doll Analogy.

Firstly, when I was introduced by the chef to the pizza electric/convectional oven for the first time, what came into mind and obvious was the product itself (electric oven) as technological tool for the user(chef), and also the different technologies incorporated within the product( selector switch, a thermostat, timer with a relay to allow turning on and turning off at certain times for auto cooking, a bake element, a broiling element at the top of the oven cavity, a cooling fan ,etc,) including the technologies applied to creatively design and construct the product based on its purpose(s).

However, when I carefully analyze the relationships or connections between the STEM disciplines using Lyons Nesting Doll Framework, I realized that behind all those technologies was Engineering as the enabler for the different technologies. These technologies are the application of engineering in many fields: electronics engineering, product design, software engineering, audio engineering, materials engineering, etc (Lyons, 2018).

This clearly indicates that Engineering enables Technology and vise versa or they rely on each other to construct the pizza electric/conventional oven.

With the electric oven, the Engineering practices, principles and process also applies science concepts in terms of the properties of the material and how they interact with various heat settings - cooling fan system, heat conversion, heat transfer, energy conversion, electricity, electromagnetism, heat capacity, food science, food and nutrition, etc.. The science concepts and practices applied by Engineering and vise versa is based on the properties of the materials used through technology to create the product (electric oven).

Science requires Mathematics and vise versa. However, Mathematics is required by all other STEM disciplines. All other STEM disciplines require Mathematics through measurements and calculations of time, temperature, shape, size, volume, speed, ingredients, materials and many more that are captured in Technology, Engineering and Science.

With this product (pizza electric oven), Technology enables Engineering and vise versa, Engineering applies Science and vise versa, while Science requires Mathematics and vise versa. Mathematics was the central discipline that is required, applied, and enable all other disciplines during the use of the product including its design and construction.

Technology is often the exterior, public face of STEM, while the contributions of engineering, science and mathematics to technological products are (sometimes intentionally) less obvious (Lyons, 2018) and the electric oven is one good example of this technological product.

Curriculum Connections

The product is related to Grade 9 Curriculum.

Note: I will be using the new reformed curriculum called Standards-Based Curriculum to identify the connections to the electric oven.

For the cross-curriculum approach to learning based on the STEM product/ process, students could be given a STEM Project based on a connected idea or theme called Oven design.

Based on the theme, Students in their groups will design a model of brick or stone oven and present it to the class

The brick or stone oven design will allow students to identify or explore the following :

Properties of material required for the design
Measurement of materials - volume, area, length, width, etc..
Why heavy installation is essential
How to retain heat wholly inside the oven
Identify different categories for ovens
Classify the ovens by fuel types
Identify perfect temperatures for pizza and other food types
Types of ovens
Identify types of electric ovens
Describe the different electric ovens
Identify the properties of the different electric ovens by heat transfer and by fuel type
Describe the properties of the different ovens
Ways heat is used to cook pizza and other food types - heating method
Design and construction of different types of oven

CONNECTIONS TO SBC CURRICULUM

GENERAL CAPABILITIES

General Capabilities are captured in the reformed curriculum called Standards- Based Curriculum (SBC). The General Capacities are captured under the section in the syllabus called : Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, and Attitudes

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, and Attitudes in the SBC captures the following areas:

Cognitive (Thinking) Skills
Critical Thinking Skills
Creative Thinking Skills
Reasoning Skills
Decision-Making Skills
Problem Solving Skills
Personal Values (importance, worth, usefulness, etc)
Social Values

Note: Even the General capabilities are captured in the Content Standards and Benchmarks

TECHNOLOGY AND INDUSTRIAL ARTS

As students begin their work on the brick or stone oven design project, they need to explore Food Technology because this will also help them to make appropriate decisions regarding their oven design project. According to the curriculum standards in the Industrial and Arts subject for Grade 9 as shown above, students will explore food issues including the nutritional quality of food and the environments impact of food manufacturing and food preparation, focusing on the knowledge, understanding and skills related to food hygiene, safety and the provision of nutritious food. This involves the knowledge and understanding of food properties, processing and preparation and an appreciation of their interrelationship to produce quality food for the wellbeing of individuals. Students will understand the importance of a variety of foods, sound nutrition principles and the food preparation skills when making food decisions to help better prepare them for their future lives. Students should develop knowledge and understanding about the nature of food safety and how to make informed and appropriate food choices when experimenting with and preparing food in a sustainable manner. Students will explore Food service and catering in addition are important aspects of food and nutrition

According to the curriculum standards in the Industrial and Arts subject for Grade 9 as shown above, students will continue their work on the brick or stone oven design project where they will explore and understand concepts on Construction Technology which includes:

Building Technology
Electrical Technology
Welding Technology
Engineering Technology

Students will be introduced to the Engineering principles, practices, design brief and Engineering Design Process. They will apply the engineering design process with their brick oven project

Students will also explore concepts on Computer Technology to assist them with their project.

SCIENCE

In Science, students will explore concepts on the properties of different materials that are appropriate for their brick or stone oven project. They will also look at how those materials interact with various heat settings. They will look at heat conversion, heat transfer, energy conversion, heat capacity, force, electricity and magnetism. They will also look at the structure, properties and changes of matter as well as sources, uses, conservation and changes of energy. They will also use scientific tools and technology in their investigation.

MATHEMATICS

While students work on their project designs on brick or stone oven they will explore concepts on understanding units of measurement in relation to surface areas and volume. This would be in relation to the size, shape and volume of an oven in relation to heating and maintaining temperature. Students would be also exposed to various views using 3D structures to visualise the product. The underpinning knowledge from this discipline would then be incorporated within all other classrooms but the base knowledge, skills and understanding would be identified here.