Food Lesson: Climate Change's Impact on Production
Lesson Plan
1 hour 15 minutesGrades6, 7, 8Social Studies
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Written by Kate Strangfeld, Ben Charles
About this lesson
In this lesson, students learn about the different ways farms and agriculture are being impacted by climate change.
Inquire: Students think about how climate change may impact agriculture.
Investigate: Students learn about some general ways agriculture is impacted by climate change and then choose a specific effect of climate change to see how it impacts agriculture.
Inspire: Students look at reduced food waste as a solution to climate change and engage in a discussion about their learning.
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Everything you need to teach it
- Teacher SlideshowOpen
Teaching tips
Suggestions
- There are two scaffolded versions of the table of solutions analysis activity in the Inspire section that can be accessed on the Teacher Slideshow.
- Teachers can use the Inspire discussion or writing as a formative assessment or to practice specific writing skills.
- Teachers can use their own discussion or writing rubrics to evaluate student responses.
- Teachers can invite a local farmer to the class to share their experiences and story or use this resource: Meet Ken Sparks | Farmer & Owner of The Farmer Ken
- This lesson can be taught alongside a food waste social studies lesson exploring the complexities of food waste and its connection to climate change.
- Students learn about the many different ways in which climate change impacts agriculture.
Prerequisites
- This is lesson 3 of 6 in our 6th-8th grade Food & Climate Change Unit.
- While not necessary, it is helpful for students to have a general sense of some of the global impacts of climate change.
- Teachers will need to create a free account to access the Newsela article.
Differentiation
- Teachers can assign the Teacher Slideshow on Google Classroom and students can submit their work independently.
- Teachers can group students for the guided research section and assign them level-appropriate resources.
- Teachers can eliminate options in the guided research section if the options are overwhelming.
- Teachers can eliminate the video option in the guided research if they want to exclusively assign readings.
- Teachers can review the Teacher Slideshow as a class and answer the questions as a whole group assignment.
- Students can further explore the difference between food loss and food waste, using these resources as a starting point:
From the scientist review
This lesson allows students to explore the impact of climate change on agriculture. They would be able to identify the underlying climatic variables that affect farming systems in different geographies. All resources were fact-checked, and this lesson has passed the science credibility process.
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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
