Through this ten-day project, students will gain background knowledge about food waste, collect and analyze data about food waste, and design a solution to reduce food waste.
Students will learn through videos, activities, research, and journaling and will demonstrate what they have learned in a presentation at the end of the unit.
Teaching Tips
Positives
There are options for both remote and in-person learning environments to take part in this project.
There are opportunities within this project for students to have voice and choice in what they learn about and present on!
Everything required to complete this project is included in the folder.
Additional Prerequisites
Students should be able to weigh objects, subtract, record data, and create graphs using a template.
Expectations for group work and presentations should be set and reviewed prior to this project.
In the school audit guide, the link to "Sharing the table: a guide to reducing wasted food" will take you to a different page.
There is one slide deck that covers the entire project. Each link to the slideshows for different milestones on page 6 of the teacher guide will take you to the beginning of this same slide deck.
Differentiation
Some of the videos provided do cover greenhouse gases and their impact on the environment and climate change. However, students may benefit from a lesson that explicitly teaches about greenhouse gases, carbon emissions, and climate change prior to this project.
Multilingual learners may benefit from having the vocabulary on page 18 of the teacher guide defined for them prior to beginning the project.
All of the activities can be done either alone, in pairs, or as a team. Some students who need more support with reading, writing, recording data, or presenting in front of a class may benefit from strategic grouping in which they are placed with students who have strengths in these areas.
For the presentation portion, students may have a technology education extension and learn how to use video equipment and/or video editing apps to record their presentation. They may also have an art extension to create posters or other artwork to present their ideas.
Multilingual learners or students who struggle with auditory processing, may benefit from the closed-captioning function on the videos or from slowing the playback speed.
Scientist Notes
This resource from Oregon Green Schools is a project to inform students about food waste and to get them involved in advocacy to reduce food waste in their homes, schools, and communities. A slide show and resource guide is provided for teachers. Students are provided a learning log that helps them follow along with the project and has ample space to reflect, jot down notes, and express their findings in charts and tables. This lesson focuses on independent discovery and even lets students develop their own plan to reduce food waste. This resource features a clear slide show, 4 video resources and ample printable resources for both students and instructors. The lesson is sure to make everyone think more about food waste and is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
4-ESS3-1 Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and that their uses affect the environment.
4-ESS3-2 Generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans.
ETS1: Engineering Design
3-5-ETS1-1 Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
3-5-ETS1-2 Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
3-5-ETS1-3 Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 2: Economics
D2.Eco.1.3-5 Compare the benefits and costs of individual choices.
D2.Eco.14.3-5 Explain how trade leads to increasing economic interdependence among nations.
D2.Eco.2.3-5 Identify positive and negative incentives that influence the decisions people make.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Reading: Informational Text (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.1 Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.7 Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 2-3 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.7 Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.9 Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.10 By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 4-5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.7 Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.9 Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 4-5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Speaking & Listening (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.2 Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.4 Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.2 Paraphrase portions of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.4 Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.5 Add audio recordings and visual displays to presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.2 Summarize a written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.4 Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.5 Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and visual displays in presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.
Writing (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.7 Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.8 Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.7 Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.8 Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; take notes and categorize information, and provide a list of sources.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.7 Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.8 Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources.
Common Core Math Standards (CCSS.MATH)
Measurement & Data (K-5)
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.MD.B.3 Draw a scaled picture graph and a scaled bar graph to represent a data set with several categories. Solve one- and two-step "how many more" and "how many less" problems using information presented in scaled bar graphs. For example, draw a bar graph in which each square in the bar graph might represent 5 pets.
