This video from Our Changing Climate explains how vertical farms work and the benefits and drawbacks of vertical farming.
Students will learn whether vertical farms are a viable alternative to traditional outdoor agriculture.
Teaching Tips
Positives
It acknowledges the potential benefits of vertical farming but ultimately concludes that techno-fixes have limitations and don't address the larger issues of food waste and meat production.
Additional Prerequisites
The video begins with a 7 second sponsored ad.
The content of the video ends at 9:21, and the remaining time is a sponsored ad.
It is sectioned into timestamped chapters listed in the description.
Differentiation
Students can write their own answers to the video's main questions, including:
Do vertical farms work?
Are vertical farms sustainable?
Should governments spend more money investing in vertical farming or reducing food waste?
Should governments spend more money investing in vertical farming or reducing meat consumption?
Students can debate the pros and cons of vertical farming.
This 12-minute video presents the potential for vertical farming to address climate change. This resource first presents claims made by existing or start-up vertical farming operations and then presents challenges and critiques of the method. It concludes with a look at other agricultural processes that emit more greenhouse gases and thus should be prioritized more. Citations are provided in small text on the bottom right corner of the screen, which need to be looked up from a list of resources linked in the video description. Although this takes additional effort to follow citations, this resource is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
MS-ESS3-4 Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.
HS-ESS3-4 Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.
ETS1: Engineering Design
HS-ETS1-1 Analyze a major global challenge to specify qualitative and quantitative criteria and constraints for solutions that account for societal needs and wants.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 2: Economics
D2.Eco.2.6-8 Evaluate alternative approaches or solutions to current economic issues in terms of benefits and costs for different groups and society as a whole.
