Education Always

Level: JHS, Basic 8  |  Subject: Integrated Science  |  Strand: Humans and the Environment  |  Topic: Science and Industry

Curriculum reference: NaCCA Basic 8 Integrated Science, Humans and the Environment. These notes cover the standard scope of the topic and use the GES General Science learner material on production in local industry.

1. What Is Industry?

Industry is the making of goods from raw materials. Local (cottage) industry is small, often run by a family or a few people, and uses indigenous methods. Examples in Ghana are local soap making, gari processing, kenkey making, shea butter processing, pito brewing, weaving and pottery.

Science helps industry by explaining why each step works, improving quality, making food safe and creating new products.

2. Local Soap Making

Soap is a cleaning agent. It is made by saponification: fats or oils (palm oil, coconut oil, shea butter) react with an alkali (caustic soda, or potash from plant ash) to give soap and glycerol.

Fat or oil + alkali gives soap + glycerol

Steps

1. Collect and measure the oils and the alkali.
2. Melt the oils.
3. Mix with the alkali solution and stir until the mixture thickens (this is called “trace”).
4. Add colour, scent or skin-care ingredients and stir.
5. Pour into moulds and leave to harden.
6. Cure the soap for about 4 to 6 weeks.
7. Cut into bars, then pack and label.

African black soap and white soap

• Black soap uses ash from plantain peels or cocoa pods, with palm oil, shea butter and coconut oil. The ash gives the dark colour and a rough texture.
• White soap (such as Alata Samina) has no ash, so it is lighter and milder.

Safety rules for soap making

• Wear gloves, apron, mask and goggles.
• Always add caustic soda to water, never water to caustic soda.
• If it touches the skin, wash well with plenty of water.
• Do not eat or drink during the work, and keep chemicals away from children.
• Do not use soap-making equipment for cooking.

3. Science in Gari Production

Gari is made from cassava.

1. Sorting and peeling: remove rotten roots and the skin (the skin has more cyanogenic glycosides).
2. Washing and grating: grating makes small particles and increases surface area.
3. Fermentation: the grated mash is put in bags and left for some days. Microorganisms break down the glycosides and release hydrogen cyanide, which is poisonous. Fermentation also gives gari its sour taste.
4. De-watering: the bags are pressed to remove water.
5. Sieving and frying (roasting): heat dries the grits and gives gari its crisp texture. Frying with palm oil makes it yellow.

4. Science in Kenkey Production

• Maize is soaked, dried, milled into dough and left to ferment.
• Lactic acid bacteria and wild yeast turn sugars into lactic acid and carbon dioxide. The acid lowers the pH and prevents spoilage, so the food keeps longer.
• Part of the dough is cooked into “aflata” and mixed with the raw dough.
• The dough is moulded into balls, wrapped in corn husks (Ga kenkey) or plantain leaves (Fante kenkey) and cooked by steaming or boiling. Heat changes the proteins and makes the kenkey firm.

5. Fermentation

Fermentation is the breakdown of sugars by microorganisms (bacteria, yeast, fungi) without oxygen, giving acids, alcohol and gases.

• It makes food last longer.
• It gives new flavours and textures.
• It can improve the nutrients and make food easier to digest.
• Examples: kenkey, gari, bread, yoghurt, pito, palm wine.

6. Tubani

Tubani (steamed bean pudding from the north) is made by soaking beans, grinding them with onion and pepper, fermenting briefly, then steaming in leaves. Soaking softens the beans, fermentation improves flavour and digestion, and steaming cooks the food by heat transfer.

7. Why Industry Matters

• It gives jobs and income.
• It adds value to raw materials (cassava to gari, shea nuts to shea butter).
• It provides goods for homes and for export.
• It supports farmers, traders and engineers.

Industry can also harm the environment through waste, smoke and effluent, so factories must treat waste and obey safety and environmental rules.

Remember: Behind each local product is a science idea: saponification in soap, fermentation in gari and kenkey, and heat in cooking.

Education Always (education.inspiringalways.com). Original notes written to follow the NaCCA Basic 8 Integrated Science curriculum.