STEam methodology for heALTHhy nutrition awareness - Food as cultural Heritage

Obesity is one of the greatest public health challenges of the 21st century. Its prevalence has tripled in many countries of the WHO European Region since the 1980s, and the numbers of those affected continue to rise at an alarming rate. In addition to causing various physical disabilities and psychological problems, excess weight drastically increases a person’s risk of developing a number of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes. The aim of the project is to raise awareness on the importance of healthy nutrition using the STEAM approach and fight social exclusion associated with obesity. Finally the project will focus on the role of food as a form of cultural heritage and the importance that cultural knowledge holds for understanding food choices and consumer preferences. Stealth project approach is to use food as a tool to encourage learning in nutrition, and also microbiology, chemistry, biology, health science and math. Stealth project will use hands-on lessons that allow for interdisciplinary learning in STEM subjects.

Nutrition is a critical part of health and development. Although the effects of obesity on children's physical health are well documented, the social consequences of obesity are less well described and may not be addressed in intervention programs. Weight bias may take several forms. It may result in teasing and discrimination and may affect employment and educational opportunities. Healthy people learn better and are more productive. The crucial point on which the project is focused is an educational path, therefore, is that of the relationship between what we are and what we eat. It cannot be said that interventions in schools aimed at promoting good nutrition have been missed, but evidently they have not proved to be completely effective, given that the statistics speak of an increase in childhood obesity. The project is addressed to supporting individuals in developing basic skills and key competences such as critical thinking in consideration of the cultural and / or environmental context. The project has a specific focus on the relationship between nutrition and health vs discrimination, and takes local food and ingredients as part of the cultural heritage into concern.

The activities were divided into three main axes: Management: This included management and dissemination activities. Development of the First Project Result (PR1): This encompassed an LTTA training activity for trainers, the creation of a toolkit, assessment tools, and online platforms (a website and a Moodle platform) for video engagement. Development of the Second Project Result (PR2): The Guidelines, a tool designed to ensure the replicability of the methodology after the project's conclusion. PR2 Guidelines for Healthy nutrition awarenesss and food food as cultural heritage A7 Feedbacks and data from piloting will be collected, elaborated to validate the toolkit and create the guidelines (PR2). Project results ( PR2) will be then disseminated on: project partners website, eTwinning - advertised in social networks and websites. Management: Meetings From 2-3 May 2022 the Kick-off Transnational Meeting was held online due to persisting COVID19 pandemic concerns Project coordinator and partners agreed on realizing the transnational meeting in Bratislava at the end of the project and discussed the gant timeline for planned activities. this was followed on 4 August 2022 with an online status update meeting to present the project logo and discuss the sharing of materials on STEALTH Drive. From 10-11 November 2022, the first Transnational Meeting in Athens, Greece, was held and hosted by the Hellenic Education Society of STEM (Ε3 STEM). The meeting focused on the content and development of the STEALTH Toolkit and responsibilities for various sections assigned to the project partner organizations. Ε3 STEM demonstrated a range of activities that they wish to include in the toolkit such as simple robotics and coding, escape room and kahoot quizzes. Another status update meeting followed on 11 January 2023 during which the project website was presented and further content discussed. On 13, 15 and 17 February 2023 , the Online Transnational Teachers Workshops was held. Ε3 STEM explained the use of technology and engineering in exploring nutrition and presented a range of games involving simple robotics and escape room activities. ECECE explained the content of the toolkit in more detail and some of the theoretical aspects of the project. Indicia focused on STEAM and how the toolkit activities might be integrated into a single cross-curricular project. Felix School explained the backward planning process and how a project can be developed using the four elements of the toolkit. Previform gave a presentation on food hygiene and safety, balanced diet and nutritional values on food labels. From 13 to 14 April 2023, the second Transnational meeting in Ponte de Lima, Portugal, was hosted by Previform. The meeting focused on feedback from the online training workshops, project piloting and ongoing dissemination tasks. Two more Stealth online status update meetings followed on 29h of June 2023 and 10 Nov 2023. 14th and 15h of December 2023 the third Transnational Meeting in Klagenfurt, Austria, hosted by ECECE. The meeting focused on the project's concrete outputs, assessment feedback and further dissemination activities. Another Stealth online status update meeting followed on 13 March 2024. On 4-5. April 2024, the final Transnational Meeting Bratislava, Slovakia, was hosted by Indicia and Felix School. The meeting focused on finalizing the project, discussing what had been learned and setting tasks for the completion of the STEALTH Guidelines. Multiplier Events 1. 18 April 2024, Multiplier Event Athens, Greece 2. 24 th April 2024 Multiplier Event Bratislava 3. 26 April , 2024 Online Event - Previform, Portugal 4. 26 April 2024 Multiplier event Austria Ecece 5. 27 April , 2024 Multiplier Event in person , Portugal Dissemination Throughout the project, teachers and schools were required to promote the project to colleagues, stakeholders and the wider community through a range of dissemination activities. These included sending information leaflets to parents, posting content on social media, posts on organization websites, speaking to teacher conferences and so on. On completion of the first draft of the toolkit, it was made available to the project coordinators of participating schools for trial during the piloting phase of the project. The toolkit methodology that the toolkit supported was cascaded down to colleagues before designing a STEALTH project using the backward planning process. Teachers collaborated with students to agree on a final project report using examples in the Fourth Element of the toolkit and identified activities from the previous three Elements to help them achieve this end. Dissemination activities were promoted through: Partners’s website/Project website https://www.stealthnutrition.net/home FB Page : https://www.facebook.com/stealthe3stem IG : https://www.instagram.com/stealtherasmus/ TW : https://twitter.com/SE3stem IN : https://www.linkedin.com/company/stealth-erasmus/ YT : https://www.youtube.com/@stealth-erasmus-e3stem Mailing list in each region and a online international conference organized by the Hellenic Education Society of STEM on 9 December 2022 PR1 Toolkit STEALTH Online Assessment Tools were made available to students and teachers and feedback encouraged concerning the effectiveness, accessibility and added value provided by the Toolkit and the methodology it supports. The results of this feedback led project partners to rework the focus of the project itself. Without changing the methodology, the focus shifted firmly to cuisine as national heritage. Teachers were encouraged to apply the activities in the toolkit to inquiry into the nutritional value of their national dish. In this way the focus had shifted from what is to eat healthily to is the food we usually eat healthy for us. Based on teacher feedback, further fine-tuning was made to the Toolkit with some further activities added. Activities related to PR1 implemented were 1) A Toolkit for teachers and students concerning Steam methodology for Healthy nutrition awarenesss and food food as cultural heritage the toolkit includes experiment guide for school teachers and for students was created. As preliminary activities A1 - a preliminary common background definition on Healthy nutrition and traditional food was conducted; A2 -Partners agreed on a common definition of the methodology and the regional action plan (stem course and curriculum for teaching students about Healthy nutrition awareness) A3 - a pre-piloting regional assessment on regional awareness and existing actions in all partner's regions educational institutions was presented to school teachers and students - A4 -After completing the Toolkit, in order to test it, a Transnational online workshops to train and directly improve the skills and competences of teachers about Healthy nutrition awareness and educational methodology was implemented. 33 teachers participated and provided a positive feedback, allowing the start of the piloting. Teachers participating to the piloting (and other school teachers) were supported by the implementation of activity A5. Even if only one platform was foreseen (and duly implemented https://www.stealthnutrition.net/home ), a second online Moodle platform was implemented for teachers experts and students (https://akademieeu.moodlecloud.com/course/view.php?id=16). Both platforms host training materials and tutorials that will be part of the toolkit (PR1) Finally as ending activity of PR1 each project partner implemented a piloting in regional schools. All partners duly performed this task. As a result, the main success of the piloting was the interdisciplinary approach, that allowed also non STEM teachers to use the STEALTH methodology to enrich their curriculum, PR2 Guidelines The main activities related to the PR2 Guidelines were mainly related to the A7 Feedbacks and data from piloting will be collected, elaborated to validate the toolkit and create the guidelines (PR2). The STEALTH Guidelines were developed as an instruction manual on how best to use the content of the STEALTH Toolkit to develop a cross-curricular STEALTH project around STEAM subjects after the end of the project in order to increase and maintain the impact of the methodology. The Stealth Guidelines were written in response to the original trialing of the STEALTH Toolkit and the subsequent feedback from teachers. The Guidelines explain the content and purpose of the toolkit in further detail, instruct students and teachers on how to use the Backward Planning Template (a methodology created by the project to ensure interdisciplinary application of the method) and offer case studies from regional implementation and data from assessment results. When completed, participating teachers and schools were asked to assess the Guideline’s usefulness and the added value it brings to their current teaching practices. PR2 Guidelines for Healthy nutrition awareness and food food as cultural heritage. A7 The assessment tools developed were used to collect Feedbacks. Data from piloting were collected, elaborated to validate the toolkit and included in the guidelines (PR2). The guidelines were translated and made freely available on: project partners website and shared with regional stakeholders. A e-Twinning has been created. It was also disseminate and advertised in social networks and websites.

The project included in its formulation two main outputs: a toolkit and Guidelines. The content of these two project results saw the implementation of numerous deliverables, notably including: ● Backplanning Methodology: Essential for teaching non-STEM teachers how to apply the STEALTH methodology in an interdisciplinary manner. ● Assessment Tools: To verify and measure the results of the methodology in the classroom. ● Inclusion Toolkit: To facilitate the inclusion of students with difficulties in the implementation of STEALTH activities. ● 5 Inspirational Videos: Specifically created by the Slovak partner for the project, available at https://www.stealthnutrition.net/food-as-cultural-heritage/videos. ● Online and Analog Games: Such as the Stealth Trumps card game (https://www.stealthnutrition.net/card-games), online escape games, and other activities. ● Slides: Presentations available at https://www.stealthnutrition.net/presentations. In detail: PR1 STEALTH Toolkit The STEALTH Toolkit is a 137 page document providing the content required for the development and delivery of a STEALTH project as outlined in the Guideline. It provides an intellectual background to the project, key knowledge and understanding required at various age and ability entry levels to the methodology, inquiry strategies and approaches to presenting and communicating learning. The toolkit is divided into four sections, or Elements, which comprise of pre-learning activities, modelling investigation, student led inquiry activities, and reporting the process. The Toolkit encourages teachers and students to apply their learning in the four elements to inquiry into the nutritional value, production, distribution and sustainability of familiar foods or food accepted as cultural heritage. The Toolkit contains a variety of activities aimed at enhancing 'nutritional literacy' through STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) approaches. These activities encourage students to investigate foods that are locally or nationally produced and familiar to their regular diets. Games and Interactive Tools • STEALTH Trumps Game: A downloadable card game designed to improve students’ knowledge of nutrients found in food. Blank templates are provided so that teachers can customize the cards to reflect foods specific to their own national heritage. • Kahoot Game: An interactive game developed to make learning about nutrition more fun. • Nutrition Escape Room: An engaging, gamified experience where students solve puzzles related to nutrition. Experiments and Practical Exercises • Glue Glitter Experiment: An experiment included for different age levels to demonstrate nutritional concepts. • Tests for Nutrients: Practical activities to test for sugars, starch, proteins, iron, fats, and water in various foods. • Calorimeter Construction: Instructions on building a calorimeter to measure the energy content of food. Theoretical Background The Toolkit provides a comprehensive theoretical background on nutrition, including: • Key definitions and concepts related to nutrients and healthy eating. • Food-based dietary guidelines and food pyramids. • Methods for reading food labels, understanding the effects of salt, and determining taste thresholds. Cultural Heritage The project emphasized the cultural aspects of food, aiming to raise students’ appreciation for other cultures and promote cross-cultural enrichment. The Toolkit includes sections on regional cuisines and traditional dishes from Austria, Greece, Portugal, and Slovakia. Teacher Training and Implementation As part of the preparation of the Toolkit, an online training session for teachers was conducted in February 2023, with participation from 33 teachers who later disseminated their knowledge to other educators at the regional level. The project employed a backward planning strategy, enabling teachers to apply the methodology effectively in their classrooms. The Toolkit includes a Project Planning Template to help teachers structure their lessons. Appendices The Toolkit is comprehensive, consisting of 136 pages with additional resources provided in the appendices: • Appendix 1: Terms and Definitions, offering a multiregional perspective. • Appendix 2: Rules, Materials, and Procedures for playing the Nutrition Escape Room and STEALTH Trumps game. • Appendix 3: Regional Cuisine as Cultural Heritage, detailing traditional dishes and culinary practices from the participating regions. • Appendix 4: Food Safety and Healthy Eating, presenting best practices and protocols for maintaining food safety and promoting healthy eating habits. Moreover an additional STEALTH inclusion toolkit was developed to support teachers in including students with difficulties. Inclusion Toolkit The Inclusion Toolkit is a tool designed to ensure that all students engaged in the project can access and participate in the meaningful, challenging learning opportunities that it provides. The Inclusion Toolkit can be used by project educators, curriculum developers, researchers, parents, and anyone else who wants to enhance full student participation in STEALTH projects. Backward Planning Template This was an innovative output made available to teachers to download from the website and contained within the Guidelines. The template was introduced to teachers during online training workshops and, for many, provided a new approach to project development. The template asks teachers and student to use consider the final product, or report on their project as a starting point and work backwards to plan the approaches, key skills and understanding required to achieve such results. The planning is differentiated for older students by suggesting methods of developing inquiry questions or hypotheses based on key concepts related to the STEAM subjects. Video Resources A number of demonstration and inspirational videos were produced by participating students and teachers to illustrate approaches that might be uses in applying the methodology. These included investigative activities, instructional films and food preparation processes. The videos were made in English to make them accessible to as many partner regions as possible while some project partners decided to add subtitles in their first language. Training Workshops As part of the preparation of the Toolkit, an online training session for teachers was conducted in February 2023, with participation from 33 teachers who later disseminated their knowledge to other educators at the regional level. The workshops were delivered by each of the five regional partner organisations and focused on their respective national dishes as cultural heritage and one key aspect of the STEALTH methodology. Ε3 STEM explained the use of technology and engineering in exploring nutrition and presented a range of games involving simple robotics and escape room activities. ECECE explained the content of the toolkit in more detail and some of the theoretical aspects of the project. Indicia focused on STEAM and how the toolkit activities might be integrated into a single cross-curricular project. Felix School explained the backward planning process and how a project can be developed using the four elements of the toolkit. Previform gave a presentation on food hygiene and safety, balanced diet and nutritional values on food labels. Stealth Trumps This was an original and highly effective card game produced for the project and designed to help student memorise the nutritional value of various foods. The was based on popular Top Trumps with each card displaying a food type and its nutrients and their values. Written instructions and and a promotional video were produced to support the game. Blank templates for the cards are available to download and edit from the STEALTH website so that teachers can focus on foods of their choice. Moodle Platform https://akademieeu.moodlecloud.com/course/view.php?id=16 To ensure the longevity of the project and provide future educators with the opportunity to train in the methodology, the STEALTH training was adapted for the Moodle Learning Management System.The training consists of four modules which consist of project planning, using the toolkit, STEAM methodology, assessment and the backward planner. The Moodle platform is administered by ECECE. Project Website https://www.stealthnutrition.net/home The STEALTH dedicated website was designed to act as the main platform from which teachers and student might access a wide range of information, teaching resources, videos and so on. The site also contains the guideline and toolkits for teachers to download in English or any of the four regional languages. Assessment Tools https://www.stealthnutrition.net/assessment-tools Pre-piloting and post-piloting online assessments were provided to both teachers and students. These questionnaire were designed as formative and summative of students’ eating habits and their understanding of the health implications of concuming certain food types. The assessments aimed to determine whether students’ habits, knowledge and perceptions had ltered as a result of participating in a STEALTH project. Project Guidelines: The purpose of this document is to provide schools with recommended procedures for effectively implementing the STEALTH methodology and approach to project design and delivery. It is an instruction manual for the successful realization of a project based on the STEALTH methodology and does not, therefore, cover the intellectual and theoretical foundations of the methodology, which can be found on the STEALTH website and toolkit.