This unit begins by engaging students with the phenomenon of food shortages. Students figure out what plants need to grow well and how environmental conditions affect food growth, leading to wonders around food and food shortages. Students investigate who is affected by changes in food availability, with opportunities to share and explore their own food traditions.
These wonders lead to investigation into our food system. Students learn about the people and processes involved in growing and making food. They also investigate how the food system is affected by and contributes to climate change. Students explore solutions to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases released by the food system, including what growers, school communities, and individuals can do. The unit culminates with students developing an action plan to address one or more aspects of our food system.
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.
“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.”
“My students often refer to the experience and knowledge gained. I plan to use Seeds to Solutions lessons in the future.”
“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.'”
“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.”
“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.”
“Students really wanted to share their food traditions and look into how climate change might affect their food traditions.”
“This lesson brought in cultural stories from the original people who inhabited California. This is a perspective that is not often taught in science. I think that the kids liked having science be a little less facts and figures and more story.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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!”
“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!”
Margo Crabtree, Center for Ecoliteracy
Molly Rose Williams, Center for Ecoliteracy
Alexa Norstad, Center for Ecoliteracy
Karen Brown, Center for Ecoliteracy
Anna Babarinde, Sonoma COE
Chris Griesemer, California Science Project
Craig Strang, UC Berkeley
Ladie Malek, Development Editor
Matt Ellinger, Designer
Stacey Lane, Illustrator
Darin Newton, Curriculum Developer
Kim Parfitt, Science Educator
Michael Washburn, Seed Savers
Helena Sakiestewa Gonzales, Native Seeds/SEARCH
Jacqueline Elbing-Omania, Berkeley USD
Kristina Hemenover, Los Angeles USD
Renay Hill, French Gulch-Whiskeytown School
Chris Kyaw, Los Angeles USD
Vanessa Manzano, Redesigning Learning
Diane Renteria, Redesigning Learning
Fidela Robertson, Norwalk-La Mirada USD
Augustin Rodriguez, Dos Palos-Oro Loma JUSD
Veronica Serna, Los Angeles USD
Mike Watt, Petaluma City Schools
