Food Lesson: Creating a Concept Map
Lesson Plan
1 hour 20 minutesGrades6, 7, 8Social Studies, English Language Arts
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 unpack the complexities of the global food system and climate change.
Inquire: Students watch a video to think about the complexities of the global food system and its connection with climate change.
Investigate: Students create a concept map to connect different ideas and concepts relating to the global food system and climate change.
Inspire: Students use their concept maps to determine which topic has the potential to make the biggest impact on climate change.
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Everything you need to teach it
How to edit these materials (video)Teaching tips
Suggestions
- A concept map student rubric is included and can be used to guide students in their work. Alternatively, teachers can use it to evaluate student work as an assessment.
- The Investigate and Inspire sections can be completed on separate days or class periods.
- Any of the discussion questions can be used as a written reflection or formative assessment to evaluate student understanding of key concepts in the unit.
- Students think critically about the ways climate change and the global food system are intertwined, working collaboratively to build on ideas they explored in previous lessons.
- Students explore the relationships and connections in a highly complex system in a scaffolded and supported way.
Prerequisites
- This is lesson 6 of 6 in our 6th-8th grade Foor & Climate Change Unit.
- Students will get the most out of this activity if they have completed most of the previous lessons in the Climate Change, Food Production, and Food Security unit.
- Students may need to gather materials, such as paper and markers, for students to create their concept maps.
Differentiation
- Teachers can assign the Teacher Slideshow on Google Classroom and students can submit their work independently.
- Students can create the concept map as a whole class or they can work in small targeted groups.
- Students can create their concept maps independently or complete them for homework.
- Students can develop a guiding question related to their topic prior to creating a concept map and then use the concept map to frame or explore their questions.
- Students can highlight one concept on their map to further research.
- Students can turn their concept map into a mini-quiz or flashcard game. Students develop 5–10 questions about the connection between food and climate change and test their classmates' knowledge.
From the scientist review
This lesson allows students to explore the impact of climate change on the global food system and why it is important to change food choices that would adversely impact on the climate. They would learn how to use concept maps to ideate high-impact solutions that would address climate change and food insecurity in their community. All materials used in creating the lesson were fact-checked, and this lesson has passed our 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
