Now that the potatoes have been harvested, they are loaded onto lorries and taken to the processing

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Now that the potatoes have been harvested, they
are loaded onto lorries and taken to the
processing centre where they will be washed,
sorted into various sizes and inspected for
quality.
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Q Why is it important to transport the potatoes
to the processing centre quickly? A If a
potato is stored for too long it can lose some of
its vital nutrients, such as vitamin C. Once
harvested, the potato is processed quickly so
that it can arrive at the supermarket as fresh
and nutritious as possible. (Key Stage 1
Science Sc1 1, 2a Key Stage 2 Science Sc1
1a) Q What are Food miles? A The number of
miles food travels from plough to plate, that
is from the place of production to
consumption. (Key Stage 1 Geography 1a, 2a,
Key Stage 2 Geography 1a, 2a)
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Small group work (15-25mins) Key Question How
far do potatoes travel? Activity You will
need a selection of potato bags or packaging,
which provide details of where the potatoes were
grown and packed. Alternatively, or in addition,
the pupils could search the Internet to find the
location of potato growers in the UK. Divide
the pupils into small groups. Each group will
need to either draw or obtain a map of the UK
and a second map of the world. The pupils need to
place a marker or, if the maps are to be
displayed on a wall, a coloured pin on the
location of their school. The groups should
now plot the location of potato growers within
the UK and those located around the world.
Markers or coloured pins should be used to
identify the location of the individual potato
growers. The pupils could also place string or
ribbon between the different locations and their
school.
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Once all the different potato growers have been
plotted, the groups should now calculate the
distance from each grower to their school.
What were the longest and shortest distances
travelled by potatoes? Why do we import
potatoes from other countries? Is it better to
buy locally produced potatoes? Why? (Key
Stage 1 Geography 1b, 2c, 4a, 5a Key Stage 2
Geography 1a, b, 2b, c)
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The soil is now washed from the potatoes which
then go on to be sorted into different sizes for
use as baking, roasting, salad or general purpose
potatoes. All of the potatoes are inspected for
quality before going on to be weighed and packed.
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Q Why are the potatoes washed? A Too much soil
on the potato adds to the final weight during
packing. If the soil wasnt washed off, the
consumer would then be paying for the weight of
soil as well as for the potatoes. (Key Stage
1 Science Sc1 1, 2a Key Stage 2 Science Sc1 1a
2a) Q Why are potatoes sorted into
sizes? A Potatoes are often sorted into those
that are best for salads (small), roasting
(medium) and jackets (large). (Key Stage 1
Science Sc2 4b Key Stage 2 Sc2 Science 4c)
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Individual work (10-15mins) Key
Question Whats so good about potatoes? Activity
Distribute copies of the handout What do
you know about potatoes? to each pupil. Ask
each pupil to try and answer the questions about
the qualities of a potato. The pupils might
also like to investigate the meaning of some
words such as potassium or riboflavin. They
could write a definition of the word and give a
brief explanation of how it helps to keep us
healthy. The answers are 1 true 2 true 3
true 4 a 5 b 6 d (Key Stage 1 Science
Sc1 1, Sc2 2b Key Stage 2 Science Sc1 1a, Sc2 1a
2b)
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What do you know about potatoes? Try and
answer the questions below to discover that
potatoes are quality! True of false? 1 Potatoes
contain vitamins C B T/F 2 Potatoes contain
more potassium than bananas T/F 3 Potatoes
contain protein T/F 4 How much fat does a
potato contain?
none lots about the same as a
barbecued chocolate bar 5 Its more healthy to
cook a potato with its skin left on with
its skin off turned inside out 6 Potatoes
contain fibre iron folic acid, riboflavin,
thiamine, niacin all of the above
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After washing and sizing, the potatoes are
weighed into the correct quantity ready for
packing. The weighing machine sorts the potatoes
into the correct weights according to the size of
bag or tray ready for transporting to the shop or
supermarket.
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Q Why are potatoes sorted into various weights
and different sized bags? A The potatoes are
weighed into differing sized bags so that the
consumer can purchase the approximate amount
that they need. For example, a large family
would want to buy more potatoes than a single
person. Also, a large bag will weigh more than a
smaller one and be difficult to carry. (Key
Stage 1 Science Sc1 1, 2a Key Stage 2 Science
Sc1 1a, 2a) Q Do all potato plants produce the
same weight of potatoes? A Different varieties
of potato produce different yields. For example,
the variety Charlotte produces approximately
1628 grams per plant while Ratte produces 1123
grams. (Key Stage 1 Science Sc1 1 Sc3 1b Key
Stage 2 Science Sc2 4a, b, Sc3 1a)
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Small group work (15-20mins) Key question Is
it possible to guess the weight of
potatoes? Activity You will need to provide
each group with a selection of potatoes. The
potatoes should be a range of varieties and
different sizes. Each potato needs to be given an
identification number or letter. The groups
should try and guess the weight of each
individual potato and make a note of their
estimate on the handout. Once the weight of all
the potatoes has been estimated and noted on the
handout, the groups should now use a set of
scales to weigh the potatoes accurately. All of
the actual weights need to be noted on the
handout, with the difference between the
estimated and actual weights calculated. Were
any groups able to guess the actual potato
weights within 2-3 grams? Were any potato
varieties more difficult to estimate than
others? Using the same potato varieties, can
the groups now guess what the weight will be
after the potatoes have been peeled? Weigh the
peeled potatoes and, as before, calculate the
differences between the estimated and actual
weights. (Key Stage 1 Maths Ma2 1a, b, c, d
4a, c Key Stage 2 Maths Ma2 1a, b, c 4a, b)
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The potatoes are now placed in pre-printed bags
ready to be transported to the various shops and
supermarkets. The bags have the sale weight, the
variety of potato, where the potato was grown,
nutritional values and serving suggestions
already printed on them.
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Q Why is it necessary to print the variety of
potato on the bags? A Some varieties of potato
are better than others for being cooked in
certain ways. For example, the Saxon variety
of potato is great for mash, while Cara is
ideal for jackets, Maris peer for salads and
King Edward for chips. (Key Stage 1 English
En2 1i, j, k, l, m 2a, b, c Key Stage 2 English
En2 3a, b, c) Q Why are plastic bags used for
packing potatoes? A Plastic bags are a
convenient way to package potatoes because they
are easily available and allow the consumer to
see the quality of the potatoes. However, its
not a good idea to keep potatoes in plastic bags
for too long as the bags tend to keep moisture
in which can cause the potato to rot. (Key
Stage 1 Science Sc3 1a, b, c d Key Stage 2
Science Sc3 1a, b, c, d, e)
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Potatoes are packed into various sized bags and
then placed onto pallets ready for transporting
to shops, supermarkets and processing centres.
Placing the packed potatoes onto pallets allows a
forklift truck to easily load the produce onto
containers ready for delivery.
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Q Why are some of the packages on pallets wrapped
in sheets of plastic? A The plastic wrapped
packages are usually those potatoes packed into
smaller bags and cartons ready for display in
shops and supermarkets. The plastic wrapping
ensures that the packages are kept safely on the
pallets and are not liable to slip or fall
during the loading procedure. (Key Stage 1
Science Sc3 1a, b, c d Key Stage 2 Science Sc3
1a, b, c, d, e) Q Why arent the larger sacks
of potatoes wrapped in plastic? A The large
paper sacks contain a greater quantity of
potatoes and, as they are much heavier than the
smaller packs, less liable to slip from the
pallet. (Key Stage 1 Science Sc3 1a, b, c d
Key Stage 2 Science Sc3 1a, b, c, d, e)
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Activity Whole group work (15-20mins) Key
question What are the best types of bag for
carrying and storing potatoes? Activity You
will need a variety of different types of bag,
ranging from plastic (varying thicknesses),
paper, Hessian, cardboard and metal. You will
also need to have available sufficient quantity
of potatoes (approximately 3-5 kilos) to test the
bags. Ask the pupils to suggest what they
consider to be the most important features of a
bag. List these suggestions as a form of
criteria which the bag should meet. Allow the
pupils to examine the different bags and then ask
them to suggest which they consider to be the
best for a) carrying potatoes and b) storing
potatoes.
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Some questions that the pupils will need to
consider Is the bag strong enough to carry
the potatoes a short distance? Is the bag easy
to carry? Is the bag reusable? Will the bag
store the potatoes safely? Will the bag prevent
the potatoes from rotting? Can the bag be packed
away easily when not in use? The pupils should
decide which bag satisfies most of their
questions and meets all or most of the criteria
that they have agreed upon. (Key Stage 1
Science Sc3 1a, b, c d Key Stage 2 Science Sc3
1a, b, c, d, e)
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Those potatoes that are sent to the processing
centre are used to make a wide variety of
products. Some of the products are pre-cooked and
then frozen, others are made into fresh ready
meals, and some products contain potatoes along
with lots of other ingredients.
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Q Why are some potato products frozen? A Some
potato products are frozen so that they can be
kept in the freezer for up to eighteen months
before using. (Key Stage 1 Science Sc3 2a b
Key Stage 2 Science Sc3 2b, c, d) Q Can
potatoes be stored without freezing? A Potatoes
stored in a cool 7C to 10C, dark place will
keep for several weeks.  At room temperature,
they will keep for approximately two weeks
(Key Stage 1 Science Sc3 2a b Key Stage 2
Science Sc3 2b, c, d)
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Individual Work (10-15mins) Key Question How
many potato plants are needed to produce a bag of
frozen roast potatoes? Activity The
pupils will need to calculate how many potato
plants are required to produce a bag of frozen
roast potatoes. Firstly, given an average yield
per potato plant, the pupils will need to
calculate how many plants are required to produce
a sack of potatoes weighing 51 kilos and then
how many plants would be required to produce a 1
kilo bag of roast potatoes. The answers are
given the average yield of 1500 grams per plant
it would need 34 plants to fill a 51 kilo bag
and, with a wastage (peeling) of 1.5 kilos, it
would require 0. 66 plants to produce a 1 kilo
bag of roast potatoes. (Key Stage 1 Maths
Ma2 1a, b, c, d 4a Key Stage 2 Maths Ma2 1a, b,
c, d, 4a b)
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How many potato plants? The average potato
plant produces 1500 grams of potatoes. 1. How
many plants are needed to fill a 51 kilo
sack? After peeling and processing, there are
now 49.50 kilos of potatoes remaining. 2. How
many plants are needed to produce each 1 kilo bag
of frozen roast potatoes?