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Using Our Land
Submitted by: Jena S.
Recommended Grade Level(s):
Appropriate for: Grades 1–4
Teaching Topics & Concepts:
Sustainability, water conservation, data collection, water cycle
Time Requirements:
Activity Time: 3 weeks
Objectives:
Students will learn about how far food travels to get to their plate. Students will design and build a food compost pile.
Students will connect the dots between the food they eat, the food they waste, and the impact it has on our fragile climate.
Materials:
• 6 feet by 6 feet outside area of ground
• Pitchfork
• 2 compost buckets
• Straw
• Cinder blocks
• Tape measure
• Gloves
Background Information, Activity Setup:
What skills and knowledge would students need to successfully complete this activity?
Day 1, 2, and 3:
• Show students graphs of how the temperature has been rising over the last 100 years.
• Food waste resource: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/media/food-waste/ and https://www.nationalgeographic.org/
video/til-we-waste-one-third-food-worldwide/
• How far does your food travel? Students will read the labels of the food they eat in a day. Students will calculate how many
miles it took to get all their food from where it was grown or manufactured to their plate. Students will analyze the carbon
footprint associated with their food. They will learn about food miles and analyze food labels for an entire day's worth of food.
Using computers, they will look up the distance the food traveled from distributor to their home.
• https://foodprint.org/issues/the-problem-of-food-waste/
• Where does your food come from? 4/5 of the world's food production comes from industrial agriculture, not from
local farms.
• How far does your food travel to get to your plate? The average meal travels 1,500 miles from farm to table. That is roughly
the distance from New Orleans, LA to Phoenix, AZ.
This content is being brought to you by the Ward's World,
Science By You program. This program brings lesson and
classroom activity ideas directly from science teachers
around the nation right to you. From best practices to
activities, Science by You offers inspiration for every subject
and every grade level. Interested in sharing your own
content? Learn how today.
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