Technology and Living Basics: Food and Family Life
FoundationTechnology and Living at senior secondary level moves from knowing about daily life to applying knowledge; this lesson surveys the two backbone strands — food science (the six major nutrients, balanced diet and food safety principles) and family life (family resources and the management process) — laying the conceptual foundation for the applied years ahead.
- Senior Technology and Living moves from knowing daily life to applying knowledge, stressing principles and decisions in context.
- Each of the six major nutrients has its own function; learn them together with food sources.
- Check diets against the healthy eating pyramid: grains most, oil, salt and sugar least.
文體小知識：科技知識說明文——以營養素、均衡膳食、食物安全與家庭資源管理為主軸，說明高中科技與生活科兩大主線的核心概念，建立由生活認識邁向應用實務的概念地圖。
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1Technology and Living at senior secondary level differs from the junior years: instead of simply knowing about daily life, students apply knowledge to practical situations, explain phenomena and make informed decisions. The course spans food, family, clothing and consumer matters, building the ability to manage resources, care for family members and consume wisely — abilities that underpin both assessment and lifelong well-being.
2The first step in food science is nutrients. The six major nutrients are carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals and water: carbohydrates supply everyday energy, fat stores energy and protects organs, protein supports growth and repair of tissues, vitamins and minerals regulate body processes, and water takes part in metabolism. Different foods provide different nutrients, so a wise combination is needed to meet the body's needs.
3A balanced diet can be understood through the healthy eating pyramid: grain foods sit at the base and should form the largest share, followed by vegetables and fruit, then meat, eggs, beans and dairy, while oil, salt and sugar sit at the top and should be limited. Balance means variety and moderation rather than any single superfood, adjusted for age, sex and activity level.
4For food safety, household practice follows a few common-sense principles: buy ingredients from reliable sources, keep hands and utensils clean, separate raw and cooked food, cook meat thoroughly, eat cooked food promptly and refrigerate leftovers properly. These principles target the common routes of microbial contamination and spoilage and form the foundation of family food safety.
5For family life, start with family resources: time, money, energy, space and skills are all limited and need to be managed through planning, organising, implementing and evaluating. Family roles also change over the life cycle — growing children can share housework, while elders contribute experience and support. Learning to coordinate roles underpins family harmony.
1Summary 重點摘要
Technology and Living at senior secondary level moves from knowing about daily life to applying knowledge; this lesson surveys the two backbone strands — food science (the six major nutrients, balanced diet and food safety principles) and family life (family resources and the management process) — laying the conceptual foundation for the applied years ahead.
2Vocabulary cards Vocabulary
A food component that supports growth, repair and normal body functions.
Energy-giving nutrients found mainly in grains and starchy foods.
Nutrients for growth and repair, found in fish, meat, eggs and beans.
An energy-dense nutrient that stores energy and protects organs.
Nutrients needed in small amounts to regulate body processes.
Element-type nutrients that regulate body functions, such as calcium and iron.
A dietary pattern with well-proportioned food groups and adequate nutrients.
Principles and practices that keep food clean, wholesome and fit to eat.
The time, money, energy, space and skills a family can use.
The process of managing resources through planning, organising, implementing and evaluating.
3Step by step Steps
- Step 1: Where the senior secondary course beginsAt senior secondary level, Technology and Living upgrades junior knowledge into application and practice: you do not simply know that food contains nutrients, you explain why a menu suits a particular family; you do not merely follow household safety habits, you justify the principles behind them. The course is organised around four everyday domains — food, family, clothing and consumer matters — and questions usually ask you to make decisions in a situation. Take, for example, planning one dinner for a family: it involves nutrient balance, ingredient costs and the division of chores, which is the subject's way of thinking in miniature.
- Step 2: Functions and sources of the six major nutrientsThe six major nutrients each have a job: carbohydrates supply energy for daily activity; fat stores energy and protects organs; protein manages growth and repair; vitamins and minerals regulate body processes; water supports metabolism and temperature control. Learn each function together with its food sources so that answers can be concrete. For example, rice and potatoes mainly provide carbohydrates, fish and tofu provide protein, vegetable oils provide fat, and dark green vegetables supply minerals — in one meal, every type of food plays its own part.
- Step 3: Checking meals against the healthy eating pyramidThe healthy eating pyramid ranks food groups by recommended amounts: grains at the base, vegetables and fruit above, then meat, eggs, beans and dairy, with oil, salt and sugar at the top. When reviewing a meal, check the proportions of each group rather than relying on feeling full. For example, a plate of roast pork with rice is heavy on grains and meat but short on vegetables; adding a plate of blanched vegetables and a piece of fruit completes it. A student with a heavy training schedule may need a larger share of grains to match the higher energy needs.
- Step 4: Daily principles of food safetyHousehold food safety can be summarised in a few common-sense principles: buy ingredients from reliable sources, keep hands and utensils clean, separate raw and cooked food, cook food thoroughly and store it properly. These principles target the common routes of microbial contamination and spoilage in a home kitchen. For example, when handling raw chicken, use a dedicated chopping board and knife, wash hands and surfaces afterwards, and if cooked food is not eaten at once, cool it and refrigerate it promptly instead of leaving it at room temperature.
- Step 5: Identifying types of family resourcesFamily resources are the conditions a family can use to reach its goals, commonly grouped into time, money, energy, space and skills. They share one feature: they are limited. Money spent on ingredients cannot fund a trip; a weekend spent on cleaning cannot be spent resting, so trade-offs are unavoidable. For example, when planning a family dinner party, the budget decides how elaborate the dishes can be, the manpower and time decide how complicated the procedures can be, and the kitchen space limits how many dishes can be prepared at once — every resource constrains the others.
- Step 6: The four-stage management processResource management is a systematic process: in planning, set the goal and list feasible options; in organising, allocate manpower, time and materials; in implementing, follow the plan while adapting as needed; in evaluating, review results and spending to improve next time. The four stages interlock and apply to personal life too. For example, for a family trip, first plan the destination and budget, then organise the division of tasks and the itinerary, implement flexibly during the trip, and evaluate spending and arrangements afterwards so the whole family accumulates experience.
- Step 7: How family roles changeFamily roles are not fixed; they adjust with the family life cycle and members' circumstances: parents act as carers when children are young, children take on chores as they grow, and roles may reverse as parents age. Good division of labour is negotiated according to ability and time, not assigned rigidly by gender or seniority. For example, in a dual-career family, the couple may split school pick-ups and cooking according to working hours, and hold a family cleaning session at the weekend so that everyone takes part and housework runs more efficiently.
4Diagrams Diagrams
5Worked example Example
Example question: Both parents in a family work full time and weekday evenings are rushed, so dinner is usually takeaway boxes short on vegetables and fruit. Suggest, from the perspectives of balanced diet and resource management, how the family's dinner arrangements could be improved.
- Identify the problem: takeaway meals tend to be short on vegetables and fruit, and after work the family has limited time and energy to cook from scratch every day.
- Apply nutrition principles: design simple home menus centred on grains, with vegetables and fish, meat, eggs or beans, plus fruit after the meal.
- Apply resource management: shop and pre-prepare ingredients once at the weekend and store them in portions; cook quickly from the plan on weekday evenings to cut preparation time.
- Evaluate and adjust: observe how well the family accepts the meals, the cost and the time needed, then review and revise the menu and division of labour regularly.
- Answer: Adopt a weekend-preparation, weekday-assembly strategy: at the weekend, draw up the menu and shop once, portion and refrigerate the meat, and wash and cut the vegetables; on weekday evenings, cook quickly from the menu so that every meal has grains, vegetables and a protein food, with fruit to top up. The key to answering is covering both sides: discussing nutrition while ignoring time and energy constraints, or chasing speed while abandoning balance, are both incomplete answers.
6Common mistakes Mistakes
7Quick check Quick check
Q1What are the six major nutrients?
Q2What is the organising principle of the healthy eating pyramid?
Q3State two household hygiene principles for handling raw meat.
Q4What types of family resources are there? Give an example of each.
Q5What are the four stages of resource management?
8Recap Recap
- Senior Technology and Living moves from knowing daily life to applying knowledge, stressing principles and decisions in context.
- Each of the six major nutrients has its own function; learn them together with food sources.
- Check diets against the healthy eating pyramid: grains most, oil, salt and sugar least.
- Food safety principles: reliable sources, cleanliness, separating raw and cooked, thorough cooking, proper storage.
- Manage family resources through planning, organising, implementing and evaluating, and negotiate roles flexibly.