# Handout 1.2: Safe or Not Safe Scenario Cards

**For the teacher:** print one set per team on card stock, cut on the lines, and put each set in an envelope. Print the sorting mats (last page) on plain paper. The Fix It strip is the half page after the mats. Sixteen cards: eight safe, eight not safe. The answer key is at the end; do not print it for students.

**Directions for students (read aloud before the sort):** Read every card out loud in your team. Decide together: is this safe or not safe? Put the card on the Safe mat or the Not Safe mat. For every card on the Not Safe mat, write the fix on your Fix It strip: what would make the same task safe? Use the three rules: Hands, Zone, Cross.

## Word bank

Hands: wash 20 seconds with soap. Zone: bacteria grow between 40 F and 140 F; two hours in the zone and the food is thrown out. Cross: germs move from raw food to ready-to-eat food on hands, boards, tools, towels, and sponges.

[Check with a native speaker before printing.]

| English | Turkish | Portuguese | Spanish |
|---|---|---|---|
| raw | çiğ | cru | crudo |
| cooked | pişmiş | cozido | cocido |
| wash | yıkamak | lavar | lavar |
| towel | havlu | toalha | toalla |

* * *

## The cards

**Card 1**
A cook wipes up spilled raw egg with the dish towel. Then the cook uses the same towel to dry the clean plates.

**Card 2**
Before cracking eggs, a cook washes both hands with soap for 20 seconds, dries them with a paper towel, and uses the towel to turn off the faucet.

**Card 3**
Leftover pasta with meat sauce sits on the counter from lunch at noon until dinner at 6 p.m. Then it goes in the fridge for tomorrow.

**Card 4**
A cook takes cooked chicken off the stove, lets it cool for 30 minutes, puts it in a shallow container with a lid, and puts it in the fridge.

**Card 5**
A cook cuts raw chicken on a cutting board, rinses the board under the faucet with water only, then slices tomatoes for a salad on the same board.

**Card 6**
In the fridge, a package of raw ground beef sits in a container on the bottom shelf. The lettuce and the yogurt are on the shelves above it.

**Card 7**
A turkey and cheese sandwich goes into a backpack at 7 a.m. with no ice pack. The student eats it at lunch at 12:30 p.m.

**Card 8**
A cook sneezes, turns away from the food and into an elbow, then walks to the sink and washes hands for 20 seconds before going back to the food.

**Card 9**
While mixing a salad, a cook scratches an itchy scalp and pushes hair out of the way, then keeps mixing the salad with the same hands.

**Card 10**
A kitchen uses two cutting boards: the red one for raw meat only, the green one for vegetables and bread. Both get washed in hot soapy water after use.

**Card 11**
A pot of chili sits on the stove on low, bubbling gently, for two and a half hours while a family eats in shifts. The pot stays above 140 F the whole time.

**Card 12**
A cook comes back from the bathroom, rinses both hands under the faucet for five seconds with no soap, and goes back to slicing bread.

**Card 13**
A cook opens the fridge, checks the thermometer clipped to the shelf, and sees that it reads 38 F.

**Card 14**
A frozen chicken is taken out of the freezer at 8 a.m. and left on the kitchen counter all day so it will be thawed for dinner at 6 p.m.

**Card 15**
A cook uses a sponge to wipe up raw chicken juice on the counter. Then the cook uses the same sponge to wipe the table where the family is about to eat.

**Card 16**
A platter of cold cuts and cheese sits out on the table at a party. After one hour, the host wraps the leftovers and puts them in the fridge.

* * *

## Sorting mats (print one of each per team)

# SAFE

Put the card here if the cook followed the rules for Hands, Zone, and Cross.

* * *

# NOT SAFE

Put the card here if something could make someone sick. Then write the fix on your Fix It strip.

* * *

## Fix It strip (one per team)

Team: __________ Names: ______________________________________

For every card on the Not Safe mat, write the card number, the rule it breaks (Hands, Zone, or Cross), and the fix.

Sentence starter: This is not safe because ______. To fix it, ______.

| Card number | Rule it breaks | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |

Grade 8 stretch: rank your Not Safe cards from most likely to make someone sick (1) to least likely (8). Write one sentence for your number 1 that uses the words bacteria and ready-to-eat.

* * *

# Teacher key

| Card | Safe or not | Rule | Why, and the fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Not safe | Cross | Raw egg on the towel moves to the clean plates. Fix: paper towel for the spill, then the cloth towel goes in the laundry; dry plates with a clean towel or let them air dry. |
| 2 | Safe | Hands | All six steps and 20 seconds. |
| 3 | Not safe | Zone | Six hours in the danger zone. Fix: into the fridge within two hours of serving, in a shallow container. Once it has sat six hours it gets thrown out, not refrigerated. |
| 4 | Safe | Zone | Cooled briefly and refrigerated within the two-hour window in a shallow container so it cools fast. |
| 5 | Not safe | Cross | Water alone does not remove the bacteria; the tomatoes are eaten raw. Fix: wash the board in hot soapy water and sanitize it, or use a second board for the tomatoes. |
| 6 | Safe | Cross | Raw meat on the bottom shelf in a container cannot drip onto ready-to-eat food. |
| 7 | Not safe | Zone | Five and a half hours in the danger zone with no ice pack. Fix: an ice pack or an insulated bag, or a lunch that is safe at room temperature (peanut butter, hard cheese, fruit). This card splits every class; let them argue, then give the rule. |
| 8 | Safe | Hands | Sneezed away from the food and washed before touching it again. |
| 9 | Not safe | Hands | Hair and scalp carry bacteria and oil. Fix: hair tied back before cooking; wash hands 20 seconds after touching hair or face. |
| 10 | Safe | Cross | Color coded boards and hot soapy water. |
| 11 | Safe | Zone | Held hot above 140 F, so it is out of the danger zone the whole time. Students who say "two hours, throw it out" have the rule but not the temperature; the two-hour rule applies to food in the zone, not above it. Second most argued card. |
| 12 | Not safe | Hands | Water only, five seconds, after the bathroom. Fix: soap, 20 seconds, dry with a paper towel. |
| 13 | Safe | Zone | 38 F is below 40 F, so the fridge is out of the danger zone. Some students say "the fridge is cold, so that is a burn" or think 38 is inside the zone. Check the numbers. |
| 14 | Not safe | Zone | The outside of the chicken thaws into the danger zone within an hour while the inside stays frozen; ten hours on the counter. Fix: thaw in the fridge (a day ahead), in cold water changed every 30 minutes, or in the microwave and cook right away. |
| 15 | Not safe | Cross | The sponge carries raw chicken juice to the eating surface. Fix: paper towel for raw juice, then sanitize the counter; sponges never go from raw meat to anything else; replace sponges often. |
| 16 | Safe | Zone | One hour is inside the two-hour window; leftovers refrigerated. Students who say "not safe" because the food sat out have the idea but not the rule. Third most argued card. |

Safe: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 16. Not safe: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 14, 15.

The four cards to read aloud in the Lesson 1.2 debrief, because teams most often get them wrong: 7, 11, 16, and 5.

Grade 6 version: remove cards 7, 11, 14, and 16, which need the two-hour rule reasoning. That leaves twelve cards, six safe and six not safe.