Poultry Lesson Plans
Teaching about meats in culinary arts and family and consumer science can seem boring to the students but there are ways to make it interesting. There are so many unique facts about poultry that can hook your students and pique their interest as well as some good videos to help reinforce the basics.
Poultry Facts for Culinary Class
-Turkeys are originally from the Americas and were not introduced to Europe and Asia until the Age of Exploration and the Columbian Exchange in the 1500s. The indigenous people of America were cooking a turkey for centuries before the rest of the world!
-Chicken is the most sustainable meat option. Free-range chickens are one of the most sustainable and ethical choices of meat. Free-range chicken farming leaves a very small footprint on the planet and is super tasty.
Learning and labeling poultry cuts is an important part of learning about poultry
1- Chicken Fabrication- Show a video on how to butcher a chicken. We made one in our kitchen and it shows the step-by-step process of chicken fabrication. Students benefit from seeing how chicken is whole and seeing what each portion looks like.
2- Chicken Cuts- Present a slideshow about the different cuts of chicken and the different types of poultry. We have this poultry slideshow lesson that includes questions, guided notes, and a web quest that get us started when teaching poultry. I love web quests because the students can do them independently without much guidance and they learn a lot! We love to teach lessons this way as it helps to provide background info. for students before they begin to cook and participate in food labs.
3- How to Cook Poultry- Have a chicken or poultry lab. Some options include breaded chicken such as chicken tenders or breasts. It is a nice way to incorporate cooking methods if you decide to sauté the chicken in a frying pan or bake the chicken in the oven. You could also teach students the breading process and cover that skill as well. Familyconsumersciences.com has this great chicken or turkey burrito recipe that the author, Kim has used with her students.
4- Chicken Fabrication Cut Out Activity– Have your culinary arts students cut out chicken parts and put them back on a whole chicken! You can use metal fasteners or just tape! This is a fun culinary arts bulletin board idea as well!
Another option is to make poached chicken and then you have chicken to make chicken salad, chicken enchiladas, chicken fajitas, and chicken pot pie.
Here’s our full no-prep poultry lesson that downloads right into your Google Drive. It includes a slideshow, questions, a web quest, and more! We also have other meat lessons including beef, fish, and more!
Here is a Poultry 101 video that is a great way to introduce or review poultry basics with your students. The USDA is a great reference for teaching meats as a government organization. The WebQuest included in our lesson has students looking at the USDA website to answer questions.
You can incorporate poultry into making soups. Check out our 4 Soup Recipes for Culinary Arts blog post.
