Sneak Peek: What’s Cooking in Grade 5 STEMterprise
Something exciting is happening in Grade 5 classrooms — and it smells a lot like pizza.
Over the past few months, we’ve been piloting a brand-new STEMterprise Pizza Project, where students explore the human body, food systems, entrepreneurship, and STEM through the challenge of designing and launching their own pizza business.
We’ve had the chance to visit classrooms in Brantford, Oakville and Whitby, where students were busy creating pizza brands, pitching business ideas, and — in some cases — making and tasting their own pizzas. The energy in the room was incredible. Students were collaborating, designing logos and packaging, experimenting with science concepts like digestion, and thinking like real entrepreneurs.
Teachers involved in the pilot have told us how much students love the creative, hands-on elements of the project — from designing pizza boxes and advertisements to pitching their ideas Dragon’s Den–style. Many also highlighted how seamlessly the project connects across subjects like science, math, literacy, media, and health, all while keeping students deeply engaged.
And while some classes chose to cook full pizzas, others tried simpler options like pizza pinwheels, and some focused on the business design and pitching side of the project. The goal is flexibility — teachers can choose the approach that works best for their classroom.
We’re still refining the project with feedback from pilot classrooms, but one thing is clear: students are loving the experience.
Stay tuned — we have lots of exciting things cooking for STEMterprise Grade 5 ahead of the next school year.
Pizza, Ozobots, and Big Ideas: A Look Inside Our Grade 5 Pilot
“Students were highly engaged in the hands-on digestive system experiment. Seeing how food breaks down step by step made the concept much easier to understand.”
“Students loved using Ozobots to map the circulatory system. Watching their robots travel the pathways made the concept click in a really memorable way.”
“In Stage 7, students participated in a school-wide Dragon’s Den competition, pitching their pizza ideas to teacher judges. Creating commercials, showcasing packaging, and presenting to a real audience brought their learning together and boosted their confidence.”
“Using the recipes that they came up with from before, I bought all of the ingredients and had them make the pizza in their groups. We happen to be doing procedural writing at the time, so it was a perfect connection to our literacy unit. After making the pizza’s students were able to eat them and they really enjoyed this.”
