2026 Volume 59 Issue 4 Pages 267-279
To explore the feasibility of introducing microwave cooking lessons in elementary schools, we asked 400 parents of elementary school students and 497 fifth- and sixth-grade elementary school students about their microwave oven use at home and their preferred learning topics regarding microwave cooking in school. While junior high and high school textbooks contain information on how microwave ovens work and precautions to take, elementary school textbooks rarely cover this topic. Forty-one percent of parents and 63% of students responded that they had used a microwave oven before the lower grades of elementary school, primarily to "heat rice and side dishes." Seventy-one percent of parents and 72% of students responded that they would like to learn about microwaves in elementary school, and the topics they most often wanted to learn about were safety-related, such as "foods that are dangerous when heated" and "usable containers." These results suggest that students need opportunities to learn about microwave ovens in the lower grades of elementary school and are keen to learn how to use them safely.
