Embark on an exciting adventure! In
Farm to Table & Beyond students learn science by studying our food system. By investigating the question,
What is the system that gets food from farm to table and how does this system affect the environment? students learn about our complex and highly technological global food system and how the parts of this system interact and influence each other — critical ideas in science. They engage in hands-on investigations of the cycling of matter in nature and the human impact on this cycle, including energy and resources used in processing, packaging, and transporting food. Students also explore and analyze their personal food choices through scientific reasoning, and they apply what they have learned through discussions and debates on personal decisions related to food systems, health, and the natural environment.
Conceived and written by educators at Teachers College Columbia University, Farm to Table & Beyond is designed for grades 5 and 6. The manual includes:
- Lesson plans with helpful background information, practical teaching tips, and tools for assessment
- Student activity sheets and readings
- A matrix that maps Farm to Table & Beyond to National Science Education Standards and Benchmarks for Science Literacy
Check out the Table of Contents below for more details. Farm to Table & Beyond is available from the Gardening with Kids Store. Click here to order.
What's
inside Farm to Table & Beyond
Unit 1: Becoming Food Scientists
Driving Question: What is a food scientist?
Lesson 1: Corn Investigations
Lesson 2: Exploring Grapes
Lesson 3: Making Grape Juice
Lesson 4: Pre-Assessment
Unit 2: Interacting Parts
Driving Question: What is the system that gets food from farm to table?
Lesson 5: From Field to Store
Lesson 6: Why Package Food?
Lesson 7: Materials and Manufacturing
Lesson 8: Transporting Food
Lesson 9: Food-System Synthesis
Unit 3: Food Processing
Driving Question: What happens to food as it moves from farm to table?
Lesson 10: Analyzing Food-Change Data
Lesson 11: Becoming Food Processors
Lesson 12: Pancake Science
Lesson 13: Degrees of Processing
Lesson 14: Growing Microbes
Lesson 15: Investigating Food-Preservation Methods
Lesson 16: Making Pickles
Unit 4: Environmental Effects
Driving Question: What are the environmental effects of our farm-to-table system?
Lesson 17: Planet
Earth
Lesson 18: Natural Resources
Lesson 19: The Carbon Cycle
Lesson 20: Earth's Changing Climate
Lesson 21: Transportation Effects
Lesson 22: Packaging Effects
Lesson 23: Processing Effects
Lesson 24: Effects, Effects, Effects
Unit 5: Waste
Driving Question: How can we reduce the food-related waste that we produce?
Lesson 25: Beyond the Trash Can
Lesson 26: Waste Inventory
Lesson 27: Analyzing Cafeteria Waste
Lesson 28: Taking Action
Unit 6: Making Choices
Driving Question: How can we use the science we learned to make ecologically sound food-system choices?
Lesson 29: Farm to Table & Beyond Expo
Lesson 30: Bringing It All Together |
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National Gardening Association