This educational resource connects food choices, human health, and the many environmental impacts of food production.
It includes a detailed video, discussion prompts, a classroom activity, a post-video quiz, and a lesson plan.
Students will learn about a myriad of environmental issues that are connected to our diets, the health risks associated with certain foods or diets, and how people can improve their health and help the planet.
Teaching Tips
Positives
The video included in this resource is thorough and entertaining.
The accompanying materials are helpful for utilizing the video in the classroom.
Additional Prerequisites
In order to access this resource, click "Book Now." You'll need to fill out a brief survey, which takes about two minutes, then you will be provided a link and password to access the resource.
You will need to save the links provided to access the resources again.
Use the timestamp document to help you navigate the video.
Differentiation
Biology classes and health classes can use this lesson and video to support lessons about food, digestion, cellular respiration, metabolism, and macromolecules.
Cross-curricular connections can be made in social studies classes that are discussing the differences between cultures when it comes to diet and food production or in language arts classes working on essays on any of the topics covered in the video.
Use the discussion prompts to drive conversations after viewing the video. This can be done in a whole-class setting or by assigning each prompt to a group of students to discuss and share their thinking with the entire group.
The suggested activities are all great, but "Examine the Environmental Footprint of Individual Diets" would be an eye-opening endeavor for many students.
Students may also enjoy the activism component in checking the sustainability of the food provided at their school.
Scientist Notes
This video resource from the Educated Choices Program discusses diet and the varied ways that food can affect human health. After describing the American diet and issues with industrial food, animal production, and aquaculture, the video turns to the link between diet and health. This resource features a wealth of information on chronic diseases and powerfully advocates for a plant-based diet while addressing common objections. Throughout the video, sources are cited on screen and graphics are clear. Also included is a quiz and a lesson plan that guides students to understand the nutrition in the foods they eat and how advertisements influence their dietary choices. 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.
LS1: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
HS-LS1-6 Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for how carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen from sugar molecules may combine with other elements to form amino acids and/or other large carbon-based molecules.
HS-LS1-7 Use a model to illustrate that cellular respiration is a chemical process whereby the bonds of food molecules and oxygen molecules are broken and the bonds in new compounds are formed resulting in a net transfer of energy.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Speaking & Listening (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.2 Interpret information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain how it contributes to a topic, text, or issue under study.
National Health Education Standards
Standard 3: Students will demonstrate the ability to access valid information, products, and services to enhance health.
3.8.3 Determine the accessibility of products that enhance health.
Standard 7: Students will demonstrate the ability to practice health-enhancing behaviors and avoid or reduce health risks.
7.8.3 Demonstrate behaviors to avoid or reduce health risks to self and others.
7.12.2 Demonstrate a variety of healthy practices and behaviors that will maintain or improve the health of self and others.
