This video describes how unsold or rotting vegetables can be turned into biogas, a cleaner-burning fuel used to create electricity.
Students will learn about a vegetable market in India that converts the 10 tons of daily food waste into electricity that powers street lights, buildings, and a large kitchen.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This video highlights an innovative solution to climate change that addresses issues surrounding both food waste and fossil fuel use.
This resource contains links to 15 additional sites that can be accessed for further learning.
Additional Prerequisites
The site for the Bowenpally Vegetable Market linked in the article is not in English.
Though biogas is explained in the video, some background information on biofuels may help facilitate learning on this topic.
Differentiation
Consider using a vocabulary-focused graphic organizer to demonstrate understanding of vocabulary from the video and article.
While watching the video, provide students with a sequence graphic organizer to take notes on the steps taken in the process of converting vegetables and food waste into biogas.
This video speaks briefly about some reasons why biogas doesn't have more widespread use, so consider using this video for a deeper dive into the topic.
Have students create posters, videos, or persuasive essays explaining why using food waste for energy is a valuable way to reduce emissions.
Put students in groups to explore other videos from the World Wide Waste series, and then have them share with class the benefits of each innovative climate solution.
Scientist Notes
This video and article introduce the topics of biogas and using organic products to produce energy. It talks about how this fuel helps reduce food waste and lowers emissions. Additionally, the description below the video includes links to other videos and articles related to this topic. This resource is accurate and recommended for teaching.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
MS-ESS3-3 Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
ETS1: Engineering Design
HS-ETS1-3 Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics, as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Reading: Informational Text (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.5 Analyze in detail how an author's ideas or claims are developed and refined by particular sentences, paragraphs, or larger portions of a text (e.g., a section or chapter).
Speaking & Listening (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.2 Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) in order to make informed decisions and solve problems, evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source and noting any discrepancies among the data.
