Students explore the impact of food waste on our communities, focusing on how students can take action to reduce food waste. Students investigate why food is thrown away, how they can reduce the amount of food disposed of, and ensure that food waste is composted to contribute to healthy environments. Students also develop an understanding of where their food waste goes when it is thrown away instead of composted.
Students will develop an understanding of the food decomposition process, how landfilled organic waste releases greenhouse gases, and how food scraps can be used to create compost. Lessons introduce strategies that students can commit to as individuals as well as strategies that may take schoolwide effort. The unit culminates with an action plan to help students and the school community waste less food. Pairing action with learning helps students to feel empowered and hopeful.
“For my students who may not engage with abstract concepts, the real-life relevance of turning waste into soil for growing plants offers a clear, meaningful goal that they can understand and feel proud to participate in.”
“I truly enjoyed teaching this. It has been heartwarming to see them care about other living things and the environment.”
“My kids have said, ‘Oh good, I like doing this,’ when we were starting the lesson each day. It’s a great topic. I also think it has made them more curious and do their own research.”
“WOW! What incredible and engaging lessons to do with my students. They loved this opportunity to be scientists, explore and think about the food they eat, and I loved the ways that they began to model. I am so excited about these lessons and cannot wait to share them with my coworkers.”
“I have learned ways to improve my teaching, and I have been at this for 38 years. The students are gaining a deeper understanding of what climate change is: what causes climate change, and the impact of climate change on crop yield.”
“Students really wanted to share their food traditions and look into how climate change might affect their food traditions.”
“This is engaging because it uses real data about the state students live in and shows changes within their lifetime, like the rise of warehouses and trucking during the pandemic.”
“What I find interesting is that students are discussing the material outside of class time. I heard students discussing the ideas before class in the hallways and even during lunch periods.”
“The kids become more engaged because now they are actually actively doing things. They’re really having to look for themselves. It’s not given to them on a platter, but all the resources are right there.”
“Every lesson was so thoroughly designed, the case study design book was beautifully organized, and it helped to give my class a real-life understanding of how college/graduate-level academic research works. Being able to connect their research back to environmental issues they actually experience was simply icing on the cake. Well done!”
“When you’re out in the workforce, you’re trying to solve problems that don’t have a clear, immediate answer. So doing stuff like this helps give students practice.”
“I am so amazed and impressed by the depth of resources that you embedded in the teacher guide. This is really well put together.”
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