Food Waste Reduction Project Learning Grades 3-5
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Provided by: Oregon Green Schools|Published on: May 26, 2023
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Synopsis
- 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.
Subjects: Science, Social Studies, English Language Arts, Mathematics
Authors: Oregon Green Schools
Region: Global
Languages: English
Teaching Materials
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.
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.
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Scientist Reviewed
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