Farm to Fork

Lesson Two: Potluck

Materials:

·        Large classroom map

·        Foods brought in from students

 

Prep:

·        Table setting for the potluck extravaganza.

 

MMSD Curriculum Standards Connections:

·        Grade 4 and 5—Key Concept: Map and Globe Skills

o       Performance Standard: "Use map and globe reading skills."

§         Students will use their map and globe reading skills to develop understand where a food item came from and how far it traveled to get to their plate.

 

El Ed Standards Connections:

·        Standard 4: Demonstrates Pedagogical Knowledge in Specific Domains.

o       Teachers are knowledgeable about the problems, challenges, and opportunities that commonly arise as students develop understanding or competence in particular domains.

§         Teacher understands that conducting research on the origin of food products will likely be a difficult task.  Teacher has given time in and out of class for this research to be conducted; however, it is through this difficult process that students will fully grasp the complexity of the task. 


Wisconsin DPI Social Studies Standards:

·        Content Standard Social Studies Standard D—Economics: Production, Distribution, Exchange, Consumption

o       Content Standard: Students in Wisconsin will learn about production, distribution, exchange, and consumption so that they can make informed economic decisions.

§         Students will be researching the origin of a food item and make connections with the cost of travel, fuel, and work that goes into producing and distributing that item. This activity will help them make more informed choices at the grocery store.


·        Content Standard Social Studies Standard E (Behavioral Sciences): Individuals, institutions, and society.

§         Students will explore some of the factors that go into people’s choices about the foods they purchase—more specifically in relation to origin of food and cost of travel.

 

Lesson Objectives

·        Students will specify where each ingredient of their food came from using a map.

·        Students will contrast foods' locations and the cost of their travel. 

 

Lesson Context

·        This lesson follows the "Land of Strawberries" lesson which gave students an idea about what organic and what non-organic means. In this lesson students will learn even more about what goes into the foods on their plate.

·        This lesson can be done as a fieldtrip to a grocery store as a class. Or, you can have students bring in a food from home.

 

Lesson Opening

·        Class will brainstorm ideas about where certain foods come from. Teacher should make a list on chart paper.

o       Grapes: _____________

o       Bread: _____________

o       Milk: ____________

o       Nuts: _____________

o       Etc……

 

Procedural Steps

·        Give students the task of bringing in a food item from home or the grocery store. They must find out where that food came from.  If the food has more than one ingredient, have them find out where each (or as many as possible) ingredient(s) came from. They will have 2 weeks to complete this assignment

·        Give students time in class to research using the internet as well as access to a phone. The research part of this may be difficult—this is actually to be expected—it's all part of the larger lesson of "it's hard to get information about where our food actually comes from."

·        Pot luck day: students will bring in their food item with its place of origin information.

·        Prep a nice table setting for students and teacher to eat together.

·        Give students 10-15 minutes to eat the foods together. Give them questions to discuss with their neighbors as they eat:

o       Does your family have any food traditions?

o       If you could have one last meal, what would it be?

o       What is your favorite food-eating experience?

·        Give each student a chance to share their food and the information they found. 

·        As each student shares, give them a post-it with the name of their food written on it and have them place that on the class map (large map at the front of the room).

·        Discuss what was difficult/easy about this process. Jot down their thoughts on chart paper.

·        Show students the website: FoodRoutes—www.foodroutes.org

o       This is a nonprofit dedicated to reintroducing Americans to their food.

·        Math connection: Pick a location on the map and calculate the cost of oil it takes might take to fly/drive it to the grocery store. Use the above website to help them calculate mileage.  

·        Return to the list we made at the beginning of the lesson (brainstorming where we thought our food came from).  Revise this list and add more food products and locations.

 

Lesson Closure

·        Have the students journal about the process of finding out where their foods came from.

 

Assessment Strategies

·        Assess the students ability to do research. Did students find out where their food(s) came from? If not, did they try at least?

·        Read their journal entries. Look for changes in perspective, personal growth, struggles…etc.

 

Differentiation

·        Students may work in partners if that works better for them.

 

Cultural Relevance

·        It is important for students to think about where their food comes from and what goes into the process of getting the food to their plate.

·        Students can bring in any type of food they would like—this might reflect their cultural heritage and it may not.

 

Troubleshooting

·        Students may not have access to a computer/internet at home. I will allow plenty of classroom work time for the research.

·        Students may not be able to find where their product(s) came from…that's OK. This is part of the learning process and the reality of our food system today.