Title: Calculating Apple Pie

Author: Melissa Keil

Reviewer: Rhonda Bruce

Audience:  Stages 3/4

 

Kalyke, her sister, Arche, and their parents are hurtling through space on the Panthalassa, towards a new moon outpost as part of the first Civilian Callisto Resettlement Wave. They are part of a group of two hundred and eighty-three brave souls, as they draw further into space, Kalyke gets a wave of homesickness for her Earth home, Colombo City.  She misses the thousand shades of green of the trees of her old home and their neighbour’s horrible singing but mostly, Kalyke misses the food, especially the eggplant curry and apple pies, because the Molecular Fabrication and Modulation Technology (MFMT for short) with 3D-printed atoms with taste overlay profile just doesn’t cut it.

When Arche decides to cheer Kalyke up, the Level-Five Alarm for “We Are All Going to Die Horribly in the Cold Void of Space” alarm goes off. What has happened? If Kalyke can program their digital helper, Maisie, to sound like her favourite BingSnap singer from Colombo City, can she gain control of this possible catastrophic situation?

The author, Melissa Keil, has written a humorous futuristic story, allowing two teenagers to take control of a situation which could have been most disastrous. This neoteric story gives a taste of what may possibly happen to food supplies in the future and gives a glimpse of an overcrowded Earth sending out settlers into the galaxy.

This short story is one of five from the Callistan Cycle series from the Future You program, designed to stimulate students to think critically about the future of the Earth and, in this case, our food supplies. It could be used with students from Upper Primary to Lower Secondary level and is designed to enable them to expand their problem-solving skills and imagination.

Imagining the Future activity Matrix Feedback

Working in a Secondary School, I have accessed the Matrix on previous occasions and could see that it is easily adaptable to Stage 4 classes.

Components of the Matrix, especially Mathematical and Intrapersonal, could be extended to include research into scientific aspects of space and space travel. Stage 4 students could research what is involved in powering space shuttles and what material is used for space suits. Students could also conduct research on Megatronics - robots that would be, and currently are, part of human life. This would include communication, “pets” and other gadgets. They could use Maisie (Calculating Apple Pie) as an example of a base point for communication and gadgets.

Each Bloom’s Taxonomy level should be awarded points but the Analysing, Creating and Evaluating levels should receive more points. The question is poised as to whether the teacher is programming for the students to attempt at least three or more of the seven Gardner’s Intelligence Styles, as to the total point system.

I would also recommend word count for the written aspects of the activities and modelling of some of the components - for example, timelines and recaps.