Year 9 Geography Students Eating Bugs!

During the second week of June, Year 9 Geography students baked insect cookies, did a taste testing with cricket corn chips and a brave few sampled:

Chilli and garlic crickets
Saltbush rosemary mealworms
Milk chocolate with mealworms

After their cricket cooking adventure Year 9 students were on the hunt for some teachers to try their creations to see if people could ‘find the bug’.

Below are some comments from our staff taste testers:

‘The students need better poker faces though. I knew there was SOMETHING different about the cookies they weren’t telling me – they couldn’t stop grinning! They were delicious. I’ve eaten whole crickets before, in traditional Mexican food. Insects are definitely part of the our future food security – can’t wait to see how delicious the other goodies are.’ – Tracy Getts, Assistant Head of Department – Science

‘My review for the cookie – Not too sweet, nutty, and was able to eat it without it falling apart. Delicious! – Kestie Neligan, Mathematics Teacher

‘They were delicious, thank you. Can’t wait to taste the spiced whole crickets and corn chips next week. Be sure to send the girls over.’ – Wendy Allen, Receptionist

Below is a summary from Sophia (Year 9) on behalf of her class:

‘I had a fantastic experience in the hands-on activity of baking cricket cookies! It was extremely fun and creative to participate in baking and producing a realistic solution to food security, the topic we are exploring in class. It was an eye-opening experience tasting and applying techniques we had learnt, as well as being able to have a unique and immersive experience in which we were able to play a huge part in. The class’s final verdict was majority in favour of the cricket cookies which may be a huge indicator of our world’s future foods!’

Here is a final photograph snapshot of our insect cooking experience and bug taste testing. We would like to thank Sally Marks, Head of Department – DART for allowing us to use the kitchen spaces to bring geography to life.

– Danielle Rodrigues
Head of Department – Human Society and Its Environment (HSIE)

Click on the image gallery to view full-sized images.