1 Snack research

Snack foods generally refer to foods which require no preparation. They provide energy to keep hunger under control, but are not intended to take the place of main meals. Some people would say that too many snacks are not a good thing. Ask pupils to consider what they think about this - as a small group, as a whole class discussion, or both.

Pupils could then undertake some research on snack foods. This will help them to develop an informed view - i.e. one based on information, rather than guesswork or other people’s views. They might compare crisps with other commonly eaten snack foods - for example, what nutrients does each snack provide?

From their findings, pupils should decide what part snacks might usefully play in a balanced diet. As a follow-up to their research, pupils could put forward one argument ‘for’ and one ’against’ snacks, backed up by their findings.

2 Time travel

From the information on the poster, and any other information they have found, pupils could draw a timeline or timechart to show how potato crisps have developed as an idea. The same could be done with other popular snacks, and the findings displayed.

Pupils should be encouraged to use different media to carry out the research - books and encyclopedias, CD-Roms and the Internet. They should be reminded that other people can be a good source of information too, and could find out what their older relatives and neighbours remember about food when they were children.

You may wish to give children some or all of the following information to start them off.

It is thought that crisps themselves were first made as far back as 1853 by a Native American working as a chef in a hotel in New York State. He prepared them for a customer - Cornelius Vanderbilt - who complained that his chips were not sliced thinly enough. As a joke, the chef cut them into wafer-thin slices and tossed them in sizzling oil until they were crisp and golden. The American people called these ‘potato chips’ and they quickly became popular.

The idea for making and selling potato ‘crisps’ in England came from Frank Smith in the early 1900s. He got the idea from Mr Carter, the owner of the grocery company he worked for, who brought the recipe home from his travels abroad. The two men experimented with ways of cutting and cooking the crisps until they came up with a product they were happy with. They sold the product from a horse-drawn cart. In 1920, Frank Smith formed his own company - Smiths Potato Crisps Ltd - in North London. The production process he used for his crisps was very manual. A gas-fired furnace heated a large tank of vegetable oil. The potatoes were cut into slices, cooked, drained and packed - all by hand.

3 Staple foods

One of the reasons why potato crisps are so popular in Britain may be because potatoes are a staple food here. Pupils could find out about the staple foods in other countries and how these have been made into snacks. Good countries to start with might be USA (popcorn, corn chips), Africa (plantain chips), India (bombay mix, poppadums).

4 Raw ingredients

You could begin by asking children what they think are the ingredients of crisps. Then you could discuss the raw ingredients used to make potato crisps: potatoes, vegetable oil and salt or flavourings. This is a way of ‘disassembling’ a food product. It could lead on to a discussion of the necessary criteria for the chosen ingredients, and why these criteria are important.

Pupils will need to be introduced to the idea that there are different types of potato which can be used to make crisps. For example, manufacturers specify that they need potatoes with a high dry matter content. This is because potatoes contain 75-85% water which has to be driven off during the cooking process. This uses up energy, so it is better to start with a potato which has a lower water content. The dry matter content of the potato also affects the texture and final oil content of the crisps (the higher the dry matter content, the lower the oil content of the crisps). The best varieties of potato for making crisps also have low levels of glucose. This helps to ensure that the crisps have an attractive golden-yellow colour.

There are also different types of vegetable oil. Most manufacturers use a blend of palm, rape seed and soya oils.

5 Variety packs

There are many varieties of crisps available today. For example: crinkle-cut crisps, jacket crisps, lower fat or reduced salt crisps, hand-cooked or ‘kettle’ crisps, double-crunch crisps, as well as all the different flavours. Why is there such variety? Do we need so much variety?

As an extension to the previous activity, ask pupils to work in pairs and give each pair an empty crisp packet (or a photocopy of a packet). They should complete a chart like the one below, identifying the ingredients and suggesting what they think they are for. Some crisps will contain only potatoes, vegetable oils and salt. Others will have a longer list of ingredients, including flavourings. It is a good idea for the children to see a variety, so they could be asked to repeat this process with three or four packs. Pupils should be able to talk about the main differences between crisp varieties.

6 Who eats crisps?

Do people of all ages eat crisps? Do their tastes change with age? At what times of the day and in what circumstances do people eat crisps? Pupils could carry out a survey to provide them with answers to these questions. They may have some additional questions of their own that they would like to ask.

When they have carried out their research, pupils could produce a profile which describes the types of crisp eater they have found out about. They could do this using key words and drawings.

7 Wondering why

Have you ever wondered why people eat crisps? Is it always because of hunger, or are there other reasons? Pupils could conduct their own market research to find the main reasons why people eat crisps. They could enter their results on to a class chart - on the board, on a wall chart or on a computer database. Once the results have been entered, help pupils to reflect on what they have learnt from this activity.