Activity
Food Project

Trace The French Fry

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
How does locally grown produce sold at a farmer's market compare to a more complex industrial system in the way they each affect the environment, people, and the economy? Pupils explore the different types of food systems and how they...
Lesson Plan
Beyond Benign

Truckin’ to Your Table

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Food takes a trip to the table. Class members choose a meal from a menu and calculate the total cost of the meal including tax and tip. Using a food origin card, pupils determine how far each of the ingredients of a meal traveled to end...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Farming: It's a Fact!

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students use worksheets, food items, and computer programs to learn about the path of food from the farm to their meals. In this agriculture lesson plan, students use a provided worksheet to learn facts about farming. They use a bag of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Snack Attack: Food Packaging Activity

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students design and create packaging material for food. In this snack attack lesson, students design a package to protect a food item from heat and water. Students consider costs of materials, design, and test the package to see if it is...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Food Without Oil

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students discuss the oil crisis and how it affects the food they eat. In this food production lesson, students look at the foods sold in their grocery store and imagine which would leave if there was no oil to ship the food. They watch...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Trophic Ecology of Humans

For Teachers 9th - 11th
students analyze the place of humans among the tropic levels by observing what we eat. They calculate the caloric content of several foods commonly eaten by humans and calculate the total energy cost to grow, process, transport, store...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Trophic Ecology of Humans

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students analyze the trophic level of humans by first calculating the kilocalories in own their lunch. They then calulate the kilocalories in a wide variety of foods found in grocery stores and compare the kilocalories needed to acquire...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The True "Cost of Cool!"

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders study hidden environmental costs in things we buy.  In this consumerism lesson students watch a video about consumerism and analyze advertisements in teen magazines. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Drought, nomads and the price of peanuts

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Students read two short text items, which describe different approaches to agriculture. They describe the likely advantages and disadvantages of each approach for farmers, commercial peanut buyers, the government, nomadic herdsman and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Canine Companions

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Students identify the responsibilities of being a dog owner. In this animal welfare activity, students list ten important items that a dog needs to live and visit a pet store to calculate the total cost of the items. Students visit a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Visit to Price Chopper

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students visit the grocery store to purchase items to make trail mix which are connected to Kansas agriculture. They problem solve to determine which products to buy, then create, advertise and sell the trail mix to the student body...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What The Peanuts Say: Catabolism and Calories

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students investigate the energy released by a peanut and a piece of a walnut. In this catabolism and calories lesson plan, students burn a peanut and a piece of a walnut and measure the temperature of the water before burning and after...
Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

Oil Spill Lesson Plans

For Teachers 4th - 8th
With the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, now is a great time to educate students on issues related to oil.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Raindrops Keep Burning On My head

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners investigate the effects and causes of acid rain. They test pH of household items to familiarize themselves with pH scale and compare that information with acid rain solutions. They investigate impact of acid rain via internet...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ocean Market

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners identify some consumer goods that come from the ocean. They classify these items into groups, identify their source, and calculate the cost of buying such goods.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Power Problem

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students complete an electricity activity to learn about power outages, insurance, and weather preparation. Students use the worksheet 'Power Problem Work Sheet' and use the 'Global Grocery List Project price list for the U.S.' to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Honduras Finding the Top Bananas

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders complete an online scavenger hunt about banana cultivation before they visit a grocery store to examine banana products. They investigate "certified" means in relation to banana production and read the "Rainforest Alliance...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Solid Waste

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students determine the percentage increase in output of solid waste in the U.S. They determine the length of time it takes for throw away items to decompose.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Do Our Attitudes Affect Waste?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners conduct a survey of society's typical purchasing practices to determine the influence of packaging on consumer choices and to determine if consumers consider waste disposal and recycling when making purchasing decisions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Litter From Lunchtime

For Teachers Pre-K - 2nd
Students explore environmental care by participating in a litter identification activity. In this food trash lesson, students discuss the destruction litter causes in our environment and ways we can avoid littering ourselves. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Why Eat Organic?

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders explore the concept of organic eating. In this environmental stewardship instructional activity, 9th graders compare and contrast organic foods with conventional foods and discuss the benefits of eating organic foods.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Did That Get in My Lunch?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students view "The Danger Zone" to learn about food poisoning and the bacterial causes and prevention. Students look at slides, use a worksheet, "Microbial Bugs"and the internet to identify and learn about each bacterium.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Tasty Experiment

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students work together to determine if smell is important to being able to recongize food by taste. They try different foods with different textures and hold their nose. They create a graph of their results.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

TE Activity: Trash Talkin'

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students collect and categorize solid waste produced in the classroom. They weigh the waste that has been collected over one week's time, and separate it into recyclable and non-recyclable waste. They talk about the role of engineers in...