In this lesson, students will:
- collect data on how much food they waste each meal.
- analyze and interpret student-collected data.
- design some solutions for preventing food waste.
"Fresh Food In Garbage Can to Illustrate Waste" by SpeedKingz/Shutterstock.com
Have you ever thrown away food after a meal? Have you ever thrown away a whole piece of food? What are some of the reasons you threw away that food?
During this Food Waste Audit, students will explore their own impact on our food system. Students will brainstorm solutions to reduce their food waste and be challenged to try out their solution!
Science & Engineering Practices
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions.
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 6â8 builds on Kâ5 experiences and progresses to include constructing explanations and designing solutions supported by multiple sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories.
Apply scientific principles to design an object, tool, process or system. |
Disciplinary Core Ideas
ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems.
Human activities have significantly altered the biosphere, sometimes damaging or destroying natural habitats and causing the extinction of other species. But changes to Earth's environments can have different impacts (negative and positive) for different living things.
Typically as human populations and per-capita consumption of natural resources increase, so do the negative impacts on Earth unless the activities and technologies involved are engineered otherwise. |
Crosscutting Concepts
Cause and Effect.
Relationships can be classified as causal or correlational, and correlation does not necessarily imply causation.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Connections to Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science Influence of Science, Engineering, and Technology on Society and the Natural World. The uses of technologies and any limitations on their use are driven by individual or societal needs, desires, and values; by the findings of scientific research; and by differences in such factors as climate, natural resources, and economic conditions. Thus technology use varies from region to region and over time. |
In this lesson, students will:
Introduce the concept of food waste. Ask students:
In pairs ask students:
As a class:
Ask students:
The global food demand is projected to increase by 60%-100% by 2050 as preferences shift towards richer diets. We can address at least part of the future demand by growing more crops, but meeting the world's needs will require as much attention to our diets, reducing food waste, and improving food security worldwide.
Worldwide, we grow enough food to meet everyone's needs, but food waste dramatically reduces the available food supply. That's a problem for global food security as well as our climate, given the huge amounts of greenhouse gases that go into producing the wasted food. An estimated 25% of the world's food calories and up to 50% of total food weight are lost or wasted before they are consumed.
But the food we directly throw away as consumers is simply one layer of the problem. The majority of the environmental impact of food waste is not from the food rotting in the refrigerator or spoiling in a field. Deep impacts stem from the agricultural resources needed to grow the food in the first place. Wasted food means that we waste all of the resources that went into agricultural production, like fertilizer, water, and energy.
Love Food?
Try these tips from San Francisco Environment to prevent food waste and save money before you shop, at the grocery store, and once you're at home.
To Cut Food Waste, Spain's Solidarity Fridge Supplies Endless Leftovers
This news story is about a community fridge in Spain, and includes a radio broadcast version.
Foley, Jonathan. "Feeding 9 Billion - National Geographic" Feeding 9 Billion - National Geographic, National Geographic.
Image: "Fresh Food In Garbage Can to Illustrate Waste," by SpeedKingz, Royalty-free stock photo ID: 344303615, Shutterstock.com - Attribution: SpeedKings/Shutterstock.com.