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Norovirus Teacher Workshop Report 2015

The Norovirus Workshop, “Outbreak – Attack of the Norovirus” was presented on July 29, 2015 at North Carolina Central University’s Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprise (BRITE) in conjunction with North Carolina State University.  Teachers agreed that the workshop was an excellent use of their time and were pleased with the module and materials they received to implement the module into their classrooms.  There was such a lively discussion among the teachers that they wanted a list of participants so they could continue their discussions.

There were 14 participants (13 teachers (9 middle school teachers and 4 high schools) and 1 representative from North Carolina Department of Public Instruction). Subjects taught by these teachers include:  Foods I; Foods II Biology, 7^th and 8^th grade science/Biotech/ /AP Biology/Honors Bio/ CTE Health Occupation and Consumer Health.

The teachers came from across the state of North Carolina: 1 from Davie County; I from Vance County; 1 from Moore County, 3 from Wake County; 1 from King NC; 1 from Robeson County; 1 from Rockingham County, 2 from Charlotte Mecklenburg County; 1 from Harnett Co; and 1 from Cumberland County and 1 from Randolph County.

OUTBREAK, is a teaching module which was developed for teachers in 2012 to specifically address Norovirus and food safety.

For:    High school and middle school science teachers and CTE teachers      

All activities were aligned with North Carolina State and National Standards.

Norovirus is the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis worldwide.  North Carolina public health officials report that from October to April each year, there is an upswing in the number of reported Norovirus illnesses. In January, February, and March 2012, there were numerous reported outbreaks within the state.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Norovirus is also the most common cause of food borne disease outbreaks in the United States.  Each year as many as 1 in 6 people get sick from eating contaminated food.  Fifty percent of all recognized outbreaks of food-related illness are caused by Norovirus.

Learning outcomes:

• Properties of viruses and how they differ from bacteria
• How viruses multiply
• The symptoms of Norovirus and its transmission routes
• Common food safety practices to prevent foodborne illnesses

The Workshop:

• Open to high school and middle school science teachers and CTE Teachers
• Teachers received workshop materials including a notebook of activities, manipulatives for hands on activities, and other supporting  resources including CDs
• Lunch and snacks were provided
• Teachers received a certificate from BRITE which should qualify for 1 hour of CEUs

Support for the Workshop came from:

• North Carolina State University
• North Carolina Central University, BRITE
• Liju Yang, PhD. North Carolina Central University

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Teachers participating in an engagement activity (skit) at the the Norovirus Workshop presented at NCCU’s BRITE Center (July 29, 2015)

Oh My Gosh, It’s a Food Fight!

Oh My Gosh, It’s a Food Fight teacher workshop was presented on June 29^th, 2015, at North Carolina Central University's Biomanufactoring Research Institute and Technology Enterprise (BRITE).  Teachers agreed that the workshop was an excellent use of their time and were pleased with the module and materials they received to implement the module into their classrooms.

There were 22 participants (8 High School Science teachers; 4 middle school science teachers, 2 CTE Biotechnology teachers middle school, 4 Foods and Nutrition Teachers , High School, 3 Heath & Nursing HS and 1 Science Consultant ).

Oh My Gosh, It’s a Food Fight is a teaching module, which was developed for teachers in 2015 specifically to address the topic of genetically modified organisms and the associated controversial topic of food safety.

Presenters:    Betty Brown M.S.: North Carolina Central University, director of Outreach Programs for BRITE

Carla Oldham, Ph.D.: North Carolina Central University, assistant professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Lynette Johnston, Ph.D.: North Carolina State University, curriculum coordinator in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences

Jessica Jenkins Broglie PhD; North Carolina Central University; Postdoctoral Research Fellow, BRITE

Faith Brown-Freeman; University of North Carolina at Greensboro; PhD Candidate /University Supervisor

 For:  High school and middle school science teachers and CTE teachers   

                   All activities were aligned with North Carolina State University and National Standards.

Rationale for Oh My Gosh, It’s a Food Fight Workshop:

Oh My Gosh, It’s a Food Fight is a teaching module that wasdeveloped in 2015 to provide a format for students to better understand the complexity of the issues surrounding the use of biotechnology to produce genetically modified foods (GMOs). Students are exposed to a variety of issues surrounding GMOs, which can often be confusing and misleading. This module enabled teachers to bring new exciting hands-on science experiences to their classrooms.  It encouraged students to discover the potential benefits and risks of genetically modified foods such as corn through critical thinking. In addition, it encouraged the use of appropriate vocabulary to argue the pros and cons of using GMOs.

From the module students will learn:

• What are GMOs?
• How does foreign DNA get into a cell?
• The process of developing GM crops
• Benefits vs. controversies surrounding the use of GMOs
• How to recognize bias in print media and become more aware of the need to identify sources
• How GMOs identifies in our food supply?

The Workshop:

• Open to High School and Middle School science teachers and CTE Teachers
• Teachers received workshop materials including a notebook of activities, manipulatives for hands on activities, and other supporting  resources
• Lunch and snacks were provided
• Teachers received a certificate from BRITE which should qualify for 1 hour of  CEU credit

Support for the Workshop came from:       

• Biomanufactoring and Process Development
• North Carolina State University

Partial support from North Carolina Central University, BRITE

Science teachers and counselors in the Huntsville and Birmingham school districts (Sparkman High School (Huntsville, AL), Colombia High School (Huntsville, AL), Buckhorn High School (Huntsville, AL), Madison County High School (Huntsville, AL), Bob Jones High School (Madison, AL), Fairfield High School (Birmingham, AL), Ramsey High School (Huntsville, AL)) were contacted and information (booklets) on Food Science/Food Safety including lab experiments to be used in science classes were distributed.  Contacts were made for future/potential students for the summer programs. There will be 12 high school science teachers visiting the department in the 4^th week of January 2016 to be trained in Food Science/safety/chemistry experiments from the booklets provided to them.

Salam A. Ibrahim at North Carolina A&T State University worked with the NC Community College System and Reno A. Palombit (NC Department of Public Instruction Career & Technical Education) to host a  food science workshop for high school teachers on July 13-14 in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, NCA&T, Greensboro, NC.   A total of 19 teachers attended the workshop.  Topics were: 

•   Teaching food science in the FACS classroom
• Food safety class
• Laboratory safety
• Understanding bacteria
• Food safety practices
• hazard associated with food products (3 hazards: biological, chemicals and physical)

  Laboratory practices:

•   Preparation of laboratory solutions, agar plates, peptone
• Effect of cooling and heating on bacteria survival and growth in food
• Fresh hamburger vs hamburger left out overnight
• Milk kept in the refrigerator vs room temperature

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Teachers can use this site as a valuable resource on food safety: 

  http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/FoodScienceResearch/ToolsMaterials/UCM430367.pdf  

Salam A. Ibrahim (North Carolina A&T Sate University) with help from Reno A. Palombit (NC Department of Public Instruction Career & Technical Education), hosted several food technology classes for high school teachers during spring 2015. The classes focused on food science and relevant technology plus modern food safety practices. Teachers were provided materials, equipment, and lectures.  These activities were part of two food science classes: FCS 235 Introduction to Food Science and FCS 346 Food Safety and Sanitation.

Topics included: 

• What is food science, food technology, food processing
• Understanding food safety
• Fermentation
• Probiotics
• Food proteins (animal and plant sources)
• Food carbohydrates
• Fibers
• Lipids: Good lipids vs bad lipids
• Resources to teach food science
• Food science organizations (IFT, ACS, ASM, ADSA)
• How to teach the new food technology curriculum at high school

Graduate students from Cornell University presented a workshop on foodborne outbreak investigation on November 2, 2014 at STANYS conference in Rochester, NY. 14 science teachers attended the workshop. In this interactive workshop, teachers were introduced to general steps involved in an outbreak investigation along with specific materials that could be tailored to their classroom settings. Learning objectives were also developed and communicated to science teachers to emphasize that the workshop content is consistent with the Next-generation science standards.  Materials for the workshop can be found here.

The Department of Food Science at Cornell University hosted a one-week workshop for middle and high school science teachers July 7-11, 2014. Within that workshop, the food safety lab led a teaching module entitled “Food Safety Detectives” for 10 teachers. The module started out with a mock foodborne outbreak scenario. The teachers were able to deduce the likely source and cause of the outbreak, and used this information to guide their sample collection, which consisted of plating food samples on growth medium and assessing any microbial growth. The next day results were reviewed and followed by in-depth discussions on how the teachers could bring these activities to the classroom.

The department of Food Science at Cornell University hosted a workshop titled “Food Safety Detectives” through the Cornell Institute of Biology Teachers (CIBT) on April 26, 2014. In this 1.5 h workshop, 16 teachers from NY state played the role of foodborne pathogen epidemiologists to investigate an unusual number of potentially linked gastrointestinal illnesses using the combination of epidemiological and microbiological information. The workshop activity was followed with a discussion on ways to improve the activity for an effective implementation in a classroom setting.

During the summer of 2014, North Carolina State and North Carolina Central Universities partnered to present a norovirus learning module for middle and high school teachers and students. “Attack of the Norovirus!” is a learning module developed for teachers which aligns with National Education Standards and addresses the fundamentals of norovirus and its role as a major contributor to foodborne disease.

Norovirus is the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis worldwide.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Norovirus is also the most common cause of food borne disease outbreaks in the United States.  Each year as many as 1 in 6 people get sick from eating contaminated food.  Over 50% of all recognized outbreaks of food-related illness are caused by norovirus.

Learning Objectives:

• Properties of viruses and how they differ from bacteria
• How viruses multiply
• The symptoms of Norovirus and its transmission routes
• Common food safety practices to prevent foodborne illnesses
• Molecular methods for detecting norovirus

On June 30, 2014, a teacher workshop was given at North Carolina Central University’s Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprise (BRITE).  There were 22 participants (19 teachers; 5 middle school teachers and 14 high school).  The BRITE Futures program collaborates with educational leaders from universities and K-12 teachers to foster North Carolina’s understanding of scientific concepts and skills.  Teachers agreed that the workshop was an excellent use of their time and were pleased with the module.

A food safety workshop for middle and high school teachers was conducted by members from North Carolina A&T State University on April 1st, 2014 at the NC FCCLA State Leadership Conference in Greensboro, NC. The workshop included several presentations and a group discussion as part of the Career and Technical Education Program for the Family and Consumer Sciences Education.

• Dr. Rosa Purcell - Welcoming remarks

• Dr. Salam A. Ibrahim - Introduction to food science and safety

• Dr. Saeed A. Hayek - Introduction to safety of food products

• Dr. Bernice Karltone-Senaye - Practices in food safety

• Dr. Madhavi Hathurusinghe - Toxins and Allergens in Food

• Rabin Gyawali - Food fermentation and probiotics

• Ms. Samorya Evans - Food Microbiology

• Mr. Temitayo Obanla - Food Biotechnology

• Ms. Amira Ayad - Health and nutrition

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Members of Dr. Martha Verghese's group at Alabama A&M University made multiple trips to local, regional high schools, and community colleges (Hazel Green, Ramsey High School, Fairfield Prep, Bishop State, Johnson High School, Lee High School, New Century High School, Grissom High School, Bob Jones High School, and Bishop State Community College) during Spring and Fall 2014 to introduce Food Science/Food Safety careers to Middle and High School teachers, counselors, and students.  Several interactive hands-on experiments were conducted during these workshops.

Members of Alabama A&M University held a workshop for high school science teachers during teacher work day each during Spring and Fall, 2014. The science teachers were able to participate in hands-on activities associated with food science/food safety.

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Members of Alabama A&M University hosted two workshops for K-12 science teachers during the late spring and summer, 2014.

High school students, teachers, and counselors were brought to the Alabama A&M campus for recruitment and exposure to our Food Science program. (Picture below:  Food Science undergraduate and graduate students who discussed the various career options in food science).

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Graduate students and professors from Cornell’s Food Safety Laboratory facilitated a food safety workshop through the Cornell Institute for Biology Teachers (CIBT) summer program for middle school teachers July 10th and 11th, 2013. Twenty middle school teachers throughout New York participated in the workshop which sought to inform teachers about how to implement scientific exercises in their classrooms. Teachers were given a brief introduction to food safety by Dr. Martin Wiedmann before being presented with a mock outbreak scenario. After analyzing data obtained from patient interviews and calculating risk ratios, a differential diagnosis was used to guide environmental and food sampling to further investigate the food item responsible for the outbreak. A DNA extraction activity illustrated how molecular techniques are used in outbreak investigation to confirm the causative agent. At the conclusion of the workshop, teachers were provided resources and guidance for incorporating the various activities in their curricula.

The food safety and microbiology group at North Carolina A&T State University held a two-hour food safety and preparation workshop at Wesley Chapel AME Zion Church, Asheboro, NC for the high school teachers and church members on Aug 17, 2013. The workshop was about health living as related to safety and healthy foods.

Activities and Presentations:

Dr. Rosa Purcell: Introduction to food and health
Dr Salam Ibrahim: how to prepare healthy and safe yogurt for the family
Marcella Cheek-Crook: Demonstration on food preparation and sensory evaluation of yogurt
Temmytayo Abanla, Bernice Karlton-Senaye, and Amira Ayad: Preparation and demonstrations for yogurt
Amira Ayad: Nutritional value of yogurt samples

The following were related to the 4 food safety steps:

Dr. Reza Tahergorabi: Basic food preservations

Bernice Karlton-Senaye: Cleaning and hand washing
Rabin Gyawali: Separation and fresh produce washing
Saeed Hayek: Temperature control, cooks, and chill

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Career and Technical Education (CTE) Summer Conference for Family and Consumer Sciences Education was conducted on July 24, 2013 at Koury Convention Center in Greensboro, NC. This workshop focused on helping teachers understand basic knowledge in the area of food science including food safety/ practices, basic issues related to food microbiology and basic understanding of food protection and defense. North Carolina A &T State University food microbiology and safety laboratory will deliver a lecture on various topics. The graduate students in the food and nutritional science will present this lecture; the audiences for this workshop will be high school teachers of family and consumer sciences.

Presenters:

1. Drs.Valerie L. Giddings and Rosa Purcell - Introduction
2. Saeed Hayek - Food microbiology
3. Bernice Karlton - Senaye-Food Safety
4. Tarik Bor - Food Preservatives
5. Amira Ayad - Nutrition
6. Rabin Gyawali - Probiotics
7. Temitayo Obanla - Food Biotechnology
8. Marcella Cheek-Crook - Food defense

Members of Dr. Martha Verghese's group at Alabama A&M University made multiple trips to local, regional high schools, and community colleges (Hazel Green, Ramsey High School, Fairfield Prep, Bishop State, Johnson High School, Lee High School, New Century High School, Grissom High School, Bob Jones High School, and Bishop State Community College) during Fall 2013 to introduce Food Science/Food Safety careers to Middle and High School teachers, counselors, and students.  Several interactive hands-on experiments were conducted during these workshops.

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Dr. Martha Verghese, Dr. Jennifer Patterson, and graduate students from Alabama A&M University presented food science/food safety interactive workshops to high school students at four different area high schools during spring 2013.

Alabama A&M University hosted a one-day “Teaching Science through Food Science” workshop for Middle and High School Science Teachers on June 27, 2013, from 8:30-5:00 pm. Ten teachers attended the workshop and participated in the activities listed below. All teachers were given protocols for experiments to be used in their classrooms.

Presentations
1. Introduction to Food Science
2. Applications in Food Safety
3. Bacterial Toxins and Food Borne Illness
4. Introduction to HACCP

Labs and Hands-on activities
1. 5 Second Rule
2. Introduction to Serial Dilutions
3. Isolation and enumeration of microorganisms from ground beef
4. Gram staining and microscope skills
5. Ice cream --Food safety