Food Lesson: Farmers and Climate Change
Lesson Plan
1 hour 30 minutesGrades6, 7, 8Economics
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Written by Kate Strangfeld, Ben Charles
About this lesson
In this lesson, students think about their ideal farm and look at case studies from around the world to investigate farmers' responses to the impact of climate change on food production.
Inquire: Students watch a video about how to create the perfect farm and visualize what their ideal farms would be like.
Investigate: Students explore resources on sustainable and futuristic food production methods that farmers are implementing in response to climate change.
Inspire: Students create a design of a sustainable farm and brainstorm ways to partner with local farms.
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Everything you need to teach it
How to edit these materials (video)Teaching tips
Suggestions
- The Investigate and Inspire sections can be completed on separate days or class periods.
- Students learn about sustainable farming and solutions-based thinking for a growing population with limited resources in a changing climate.
- Students can research local farms in or near their community.
- Teachers can invite local farmers to share what they consider in designing their spaces or share what sustainable farming looks like for them.
Prerequisites
- This is lesson 4 of 6 in our 6th-8th grade Food & Climate Change Unit.
- Students should understand that different regions will respond to climate change differently based on how they experience the impacts of climate change.
- Teachers may want to display images of nearby farms for visual examples.
Differentiation
- Teachers can assign the Teacher Slideshow and Student Document on Google Classroom and students can submit their work independently.
- Teachers can group students for the guided research questions and assign them level-appropriate resources.
- Teachers can eliminate case study options if the options are overwhelming.
- Teachers can review the Teacher Slideshow as a class and answer the questions as a whole group assignment.
- Students can compare and contrast designs of local farms near their community or in their region.
From the scientist review
With different case studies, this lesson introduces students to the concept of climate-smart agriculture. In this light, they will be able to model innovative techniques to achieve a sustainable food system in their local communities and beyond. All materials have been rigorously fact-checked, and this lesson is recommended for teaching.
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About the teacher writers
Kate Strangfeld
6-12 Chemistry Teacher
I'm a current student at Harvard Graduate School of Education and previously taught middle school science and high school chemistry for 8 years in Washington, DC. I also love to cook and be active. I focus on designing lessons that are hands-on and use real-world scenarios to make science engaging and approachable to students. I'm also currently exploring how we can use cooking and food to teach chemistry in a more interesting & relatable way.
Ben Charles
Chief of Partnerships and Communication
Ben Charles holds a Master's Degree in Teaching from Relay Graduate School of Education. He has nine years of experience teaching grades 3–7 across multiple subject areas. His expertise includes interdisciplinary instruction designed to support diverse learners and foster meaningful student engagement
