This lesson plan is licensed under Creative Commons.
In this lesson, students learn about food insecurity and analyze potential solutions for their own community.
Step 1 - Inquire: Students learn causes and consequences of food insecurity and ask questions they have about it.
Step 2 - Investigate: Students investigate food deserts and existing solutions.
Step 3 - Inspire: Students think about their community and analyze solutions to food insecurity that could be applied to their neighborhood.
Positives
Students learn about difficult issues like food insecurity and food deserts but in the context of solution-based thinking.
Students think about and analyze their community and think of ways they can make a tangible difference.
Additional Prerequisites
This is lesson 5 of 6 in our 6th-8th grade Climate Change, Food Production, and Food Security unit.
Students should understand food insecurity isn’t just about hunger, but also malnutrition.
Students should understand that food insecurity is an issue for many people for a variety of different reasons, but there are potential solutions.
Differentiation
Teachers can assign the teacher slideshow on Google Classroom and students can submit their work independently.
Teachers can group students and assign them level-appropriate resources.
Teachers can eliminate options in the guided research section if the options are overwhelming.
Teachers can review the teacher slideshow as a class and answer the questions as a whole group assignment.
This lesson introduces students to what food insecurity and food deserts entail, how it adversely impacts vulnerable populations, low-income communities, and the world at large. It offers them the opportunity to brainstorm on ideas to address food insecurity in their communities and across different geographies. All materials in the lesson have been reviewed, and there is a high confidence in using this lesson in the classroom.
