Lesson Six

Content Standards

Science:
  • 4.L.1.1 Give examples of changes in an organism’s environment that are beneficial to it and some that are harmful.
English and Language Arts:
  • RI.5.7 Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently.
Social Studies:
  • 3.C&G.2.2 Exemplify how citizens contribute to the well-being of the community’s natural environment. 
  • 4.G.1.2 Explain the impact that human activity has on the availability of natural resources in North Carolina.

Objectives

Students will be able to:
  • ​Identify where and how food is wasted in order to determine what steps to take to make changes that contribute to the well-being of community citizens and the environment. 
  • Research sources to collect information in order to make decisions and propose solutions to the U.S. and global food crisis in the future.

Concepts

Interdependence - Choice - Change - Sustainbility

Prior Preperation

  • ​On the day of the lesson students will save their own lunch waste, and bring it back to the classroom.  This includes tray, utensils, uneaten food, packaging - everything that was taken but not consumed.  Students will label their tray with their name and set aside until needed.
  • Ready video and create your own padlet, and print composting resource - Composting Do's and Dont's.
  • Supply mobile devices for each small group or ask students to BYOD (Bring your own device) prior to lesson.
  • Research local organizations that are solutionaries for resolving food waste in your community for discussion.

Prerequsite Knowledge

Greenhouse gasses contribute to climate change, Natural resources are degraded to grow and distribute foods, What materials can and cannot be recycled locally.

Assessment

Teacher collects informal assessment information through in-class participation, discussions, and note collection.  Students will demonstrate their research skills by extracting relevant information from text and taking notes representative of their content knowledge, in order to make decisions and propose solutions in future lessons.

Accommodations

​Universal Design in place to accommodate exceptionalities.

Materials and Resources



Books:
Compost Stew
Siddals, M. M. (2010). Compost Stew: An A to Z recipe for the Earth. Random House Digital, Inc..

​Materials:
Prezi, Journal, Bins - compost, landfill, and recycling, Composting Do's and Dont's, Plastic gloves, Padlet, Student mobile devices, 

Scarlett. (July 19, 2013). Refreshing the home. Composting Do's and Dont's. Retrieved from   http://refreshingthehome.com/composting-dos-and-donts

​Video Resources:
Karim Chrobog. (May 19, 2015). The Big Waste: Why Do We Throw Away So Much Food? Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aH7RwOD0RE

Innovative Solutions Resources:
​Composting
eSchooltoday. (n.d.). Your cool facts and tips on Waste management.  Composting. Retrieved from http://www.eschooltoday.com/waste-recycling/what-is-composting.html 

Feeding Pigs
Ramsey County. (December 16, 2009). School Food Waste Recycling. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkLTO0xWG5A
​
Leftovers
WTHR. (March 8, 2016). Food Fight: Schools combat lunch waste. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdupnDU0w64
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Click to Preview Book


School Gardens
City Schoolyard Garden. (2011). Elementary School Gardens. Retrieved from http://www.cityschoolyardgarden.org/gardens/elementary-school-gardens/

​Ugly Fruits ​
Goodvertising. (n.d.) Intermarche - ‘Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables’. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/98441820

Instructional Procedure

    What About Food Waste?
  • Open the lesson with a short recap of waste practices learned in previous lesson.  Ask students what they think happens to food waste.
  • Inform students, the U.S. discards more food than any other country.  97% of U.S. food waste ends up in a landfill, making food the #1 product in landfills​
​​
    ​Think While You Ink
  • Prompt students to write journal responses to questions below in relation to food waste.  
    1. How much food is getting thrown away? 
    2. Who is throwing away food?
    3. Why is food being thrown away?
    4. How can food waste be reduced?
 The Big Waste
  • Students will watch The Big Waste (10 min) and add notes to journal responses as answers to above questions are learned.  
  • Before playing video introduce new terms student will hear and suggest they make note of their meaning in journals: food insecure, manpower, and distributor.
In the U.S. About 40% of Food Is Never Eaten
Video recap:​
  • The United States casually tosses out 40-60% of all of our food produced.  What does that say about us as a society?  We don’t VALUE the work that is done by the people who produce the food, the lives of people who aren’t getting access to it, and our environment.
  • If you throw away food, you’re not just wasting an apple, you’re wasting the energy, resources, and manpower that went into producing it.
  • ​Who is throwing away food, how much, and why?
    • Farms (Producers) - 40-60% doesn’t make it off the farm because it doesn’t look right.
    • Grocery Stores and Shipping (Distributors) - food goes to waste because it is expensive to transport and keep cool.  If there isn’t someone who wants to buy it right away, the distributor losses money, so it is financially smart to throw it away.
    • Us (Consumers) - People buy or cook more than they can eat.  Sell by dates are a best guess of when the food will be the freshest.  People often throw away food as soon as it hits this date, but the food is still good for days, weeks, sometimes even months past.  ​
    Solutionaries in Action!
  • Let students know that people recognize that there is a problem with the amount of food wasted in the U.S.  AND.. there are solutionaries making a change! 
    • A solutionary is some one who takes informed action on a problem.  They learn and research a problem that troubles them, and then they connect with local organizations to help start a movement.  Once something gets going locally, larger organizations can help take a cause to a larger level - city, state, country, even globally!
  • Ask students if they recall any solutionaries from the video.
    • Food Cowboy -Organizes to pick up food that was destined for the landfill and distributes to places like DC Central Kitchen and the food bank.
    • Manna Food Bank - Receives food from grocery stores that are perfectly good that would otherwise be thrown out.  Foods might have a blemish or the date makes people think that the product isn’t safe to consume.
    • DC Central Kitchen -  Farms invite DCCK volunteers out to recover food that would be wasted.  Community kitchen engaged in food recycling and meal distribution programs. Features outreach programs and volunteer opportunities.  
  • After recalling organizations from the video, ask students if they know of any local organizations that do similar work.  Allow for short discussion and sharing of ideas.
     Let’s Compost!
  • Inform students that some food waste in inevitable.  When food is sent to a landfill to rot it produces a lot of methane gas.  Remind students that because landfills are compacted and covered with dirt, much more methane is produced than if materials were left uncovered. Methane is a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.
  • What is composting?
    • Composting is an option for organic materials such as food scraps, paper, yard waste, and cardboard.
    • Composting is the natural breakdown of these materials. Greenhouse gasses are reduced because materials are exposed to air, thus reducing the amount of methane that is produced. Composting is aerobic (in the presence of oxygen as opposed to a landfill which is anaerobic) .
    • Composting is a waste management system that creates a recycled product that can be used as a natural fertilizer in small gardens and large crops.
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Click for Larger Image to Print
Compost, Recycle and Landfill Sort
  • Groups of 2-3 students.  Provide students with a reference tool for composting such as a brochure, image, website, etc. Gloves can be provided.
  • Ask students to find their trays from the lunch period prior.  Give all groups three bins (compost, landfill and recycling).  Inform students  will sort their lunch waste using the chosen reference tool.
  • Circulate the room to ensure children are understanding the concept and that they are using the reference tool.
  • After all students are finished, lead a short discussion about the activity and answer any questions.
    • Was it hard or easy?  Is this something you could do every day?
    • Where in your city or school grounds could composting be used?
    • What couldn’t be recycled or composted?  How much smaller is the landfill pile than when we just sorted out the recycling?  
​
    Connect Extend Challenge 
  • Students will be invited to share ideas virtually though Padlet  Devices will be supplied for each small group or have been asked to BYOD (Bring your own device) prior to lesson.​
    • ​Food Waste Padlet 
      • Instruct students to reflect on what they have learned in this lesson.  Students will make connections between new ideas and prior knowledge about food waste.
Picture
Click to use Padlet
  • Connect - How are the ideas and information presented CONNECTED to what you already knew?
  • Challenge - What is still CHALLENGING or confusing for you to get your mind around? What questions, wonderings or puzzles do you now have?​
  • Extend - What new ideas did you get that EXTENDED or pushed your thinking in new directions?
​    ​Innovative Solutions
  • Students will be presented with a large cardboard sign that they will design for their classroom composting collection bin in their small groups of 2-3 students at a time.  
  • While Students are designing the sign, other students will begin researching local composting options or other useful ways to use and reduce school food waste.  Students will make notes of ideas they find interesting and want to know more about.  Students will make notes on how to put ideas into practice at school.
  • Resources for student research: Composting, Feeding Pigs, Leftovers, School Gardens, Ugly Fruits ​

    Lesson Vocabulary: Food insecure, manpower, distributor, solutionary, compost