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.
Want to talk through the lesson plans? Need support customizing a unit for your classroom?
Drop into office hours on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month from 4:00-5:00pm PT for free support from Holly or another Seeds to Solutions team member.
“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.”
“This did a great job of piquing students’ interest and sparking opposing points of view, which created lively discussions on the topic.”
“There is something for all different kinds of learners. We are moving spaces, drawing, talking in big and small groups, writing. Some of my kiddos who would have been disengaged quite possibly the entire time were engaged in at least two or more parts of this lesson.”
“From my students: ‘Thank you for teaching us this lesson because if you didn’t it would be bad for our environment.’ ‘This was awesome! Can you do more? Thank you!’ ‘Thank you for helping us in taking care of the environment.'”
“I heard comments like, ‘I didn’t realize how much climate change affects my community,’ and, ‘This project made me think about what I can do to help.'”
“Students really enjoyed the hands-on activity. They were very interested to learn about the different pollutants that they’ve never heard of. It also developed their curiosity about air quality and pollution. It was an eye-opener for some that they are able to see what is mostly ‘unseen’ by everyone.”
“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.”
“I love how the data was more interactive and chunked into smaller pieces. I also like how there was a way to bring all the knowledge and wondering back to come up with a conclusion to the problem.”
“Using the maps and seeing things like schools and how close they are to hazards is really cool. They may not be super connected personally, but they can put themselves in the shoes of other kids and try to relate. I know it’s working because I have a kid that just watches Netflix all day, every day and he pulled out his earbud and participated!”
“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.”
Maria Nichols, San Diego USD
Meagan Nelson-Palamara, Curriculum Developer
Angelle Lailhengue, Curriculum Developer
Emily Schell, University of San Diego
Roni Jones, Ten Strands
Stephanie Buttell-Maxin, CA Global Education Project
Chelsea Cochrane, San Diego COE
Laura Tucker, Science Educator
Sandi Yellenberg, Science Educator
Matt Ellinger, Designer
Elaine Klein, BSCS
Stacey Lane, Illustrator
Evan Schell, Evan Schell Photography
Children’s Environmental Literacy Foundation
Hannah Ammerman, Santa Rosa City Schools
Louisa Bolton-Ast, Round Valley School District
Kim Douillard, Cardiff School District
Stefanie Freele, West Side UESD
Lisa Garcia, Fremont USD
Karen Gomez, New Heights Charter School
Elena Hood, Spencer Valley ESD
Elizabeth Volmer, Jefferson ESD
Rebecca Wilcox, Los Angeles USD
