Design Challenge: The Ideal Meal

jan 05 2012

Source: Tina Kacandes

Summary Information

Keywords:

sustainability, food production, fossil fuels, organic agriculture, nutrition, consumer economics, the design process

Ämne:

Geovetenskap

Biologi

Target Grade (Ages):

Klass 7 (åldrar 12-13)

Klass 8 (åldrar 13-14)

Klass 9 (åldrar 14-15)

Klass 10 (åldrar 15-16)

Klass 11 (åldrar 16-17)

Klass 12 (åldrar 17-18)

Estimated Time Required:

2-3 hours

Diversity Indicators:

Anyone who likes to eat and talk about food can play the game. Students who enjoy friendly competition and lively discussion in big and small groups will enjoy it. Students who like to pose their own questions and talk about what they already know will be rewarded. Students who are becoming self-reflective thinkers will appreciate the opportunity to study their decisions and those of their classmates. It is good practice for students who need to be encouraged to revise their work.

Watch this Lesson in Practice

Introduction

Lesson

Reflection

Tab Wrapper

LESSON

Goals and Prerequisites

Goals:

To create a vision of a more sustainable system of food production and distribution.
To redesign a sample diet to optimize nutritional value, minimize impact on the environment and remain affordable.

Prerequisites:

Watch the 20-minute animation “The Story of Stuff” (www.storyofstuff.org) in an earlier class period or two and have the students journal their reflections about consumption, overconsumption and their impact on the environment.
It would also be helpful if students understand food chain diagrams and have some sense of how much energy is lost at each trophic level (90%).
Students who understand some energy basics will be able to do more with this lesson. Calories and kilocalories (kcal) are mentioned.

Instructional Objective(s)

At the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

Create a nutritious and balanced meal
Select food whose production requires less energy
Weigh the value of food dollars spent in terms of nutrition and sustainability.

Instructional Resources

Background:

As science teachers, we are alert to new discoveries and analyses of the world around us. The effects of human impact are gaining more and more attention. We need to prepare our students for the effects of climate change and the dwindling of the fossil fuel-driven era.

Considering sustainability in our every choice is daunting. In each solution lies another problem. How can we adjust our lifestyles to conserve resources and drive change towards less wasteful methods of production? What kinds of thought games will help our students evaluate their consumption and see other options?

This lesson plan is designed to demonstrate to the student participants how they can manipulate their choices to design a meal that meets four different parameters to a greater or lesser extent. One goal is to create a diet that is optimally nutritious. Another is to put together a diet that takes less energy to produce. The third parameter is to consider economic value for the consumer -- affordability. Finally, the meal must be palatable to be chosen voluntarily by youth like ours who can choose among so many options. Can they come up with meals that are nutritious, healthy for the planet, thrifty and pleasurable to eat?

The students will be given information to support their analyses. These are based on referenced authorities. When it comes to climate change, how relative impact and mitigation activities are calculated and stated varies. The game relies on only a few sources for each parameter and uses arbitrary values to illustrate trade-offs.

Nutrition

The United States government has issued new guidelines about good nutrition. The focus is on clear messages that consumers will find both easy to understand and remember, bright graphics and interactive tools. Many educators have been inspired to use these materials in lesson plans.

Sustainability

The sustainability portion of the game is inspired by the “Food for Humans” Chapter in Energy Action Technology Integrated Learning Activities (Secondary) published by the National Energy Foundation 2010, and David and Maria Pimentel’s article comparing plant-based and meat based diets. (Am J of Clin Nutrition, Vol 78 no. 3 660S-663S, Sept 2003).

We can measure energy when some change occurs. In energy conversions the amount of useful energy always decreases; however the total quantity of energy remains the same. Entropy (disorder) increases. If you compared the energy you put into something (input) with the energy you get out (output) you get some idea of the efficiency of your transaction. Putting more energy in than you get out wasn’t always the case with food production, but it usually is now.

“Besides growing the food, energy is consumed in Processing (20%) cooking, freezing and packaging; Retailing (17%) transportation and refrigeration; Consumption (38%) refrigeration and cooking.”
“In the United States, agriculture uses a lot of energy to grow the food which gives us energy…10¹⁵ Joules.”
“Our present food system uses about seven units of energy for every unit of energy it produces – a very inefficient system. In 1900, our agricultural system was much more efficient, producing more energy from the food it produced that was consumed in producing it. This is still true for some countries. “
“Some food products supply a small amount of useable energy compared to the amount of energy required to produce them. Other products are not so energy intensive.”
“60 million people could be fed by the grain saved if Americans reduced their beef consumption by 10%. 60 million people will starve to death this year.”

*These quotations are from “Food for Humans” Chapter in Energy Action Technology Integrated Learning Activities (Secondary), National Energy Foundation 2010.

Consumer Economics (Affordability)

For this exercise, student are encouraged to think about how to spend money as if it is coming out of their pocket rather than someone else’s. The goal is to develop the ability to discriminate between what you need and what you want. Another goal is to contemplate the long-term consequences of everyday decisions.

Materials:

Dinner sized “plates”, one per student
“Plate” showing food group portions (Protein, Grain, Vegetable, Fruit, Beverage), one per student
Scorecard, one per student
Empty Calories Chart, one per table or group of students
Energy (and Agriculture) Chart
Wild Cards, 16 unique cards, 2 cards per student
End of Lesson Reflection, one per student
Sample Game Summary, for teacher’s reference
Rubric, as needed

Procedure:

BEFORE STUDENTS ARRIVE

Make handouts as described above. To prepare wild cards: cut with a scissor from side to side and fold so text is inside. Copy wild cards onto colorful paper if desired. Give each student one card from 1-9 and one card from 10-18.

WITH STUDENTS

As an introduction, discuss some of the following questions.

All organisms must have food for energy. Humans all over the planet on every continent eat food. Some of us have more choices than others about what and how much to eat. In the United States, one problem is that people are eating in ways that are not healthy.

What evidence do you have that how we eat is a problem?

Students may mention widespread obesity and epidemic of chronic diseases associated with obesity like diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and cancer. Changing our habits is a challenge.

We may be very particular about what we choose to eat. Our culture, our religion, our traditions may define what foods are most desirable and nutritious. In some cultures, insects, including caterpillars, grasshoppers, crickets are considered a delicacy.

Another difference between groups of people is how food is produced and the impact food production, in all its stages, has on the environment.

Our food choices have the potential to impact the environment. What examples of this can you share?

Some examples of how food production uses excessive amounts of fuel:

- farming with heavy machinery, deep tilling

- using fertilizers and pesticides

- growing animals in concentrated conditions

- feeding livestock grain, rather than allowing them to eat grass.

What is the relationship between the burning of fossil fuels and climate change?

Burning fossil fuels produces massive amount of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere contributes to climate change.

What are some negative health effects of industrial farming?

Standard industrial farming pollutes the environment with fertilizers and pesticides and ultimately our bodies when we consume the food and drink the water.

As you know chemicals are concentrated in the bodies of organisms that are further along the food chain.

Where do humans fit into the chain? What does our position at the top of the food chain mean about our exposure to chemicals?

When we eat animals environmental toxins are concentrated in their flesh. When we eat animals that eat animals that eat animals, this is a greater problem. Tuna and some other predatory fish have high concentrations of mercury in their flesh.

What does a diet closer to the bottom of the food chain look like?

Eating more fruits, vegetables and grains, that is, a plant-based diet, instead of meat.

What are some examples of alternative methods of producing food and feeding ourselves?

Organic food is grown without pesticides and fertilizers by recycling vegetable matter back into the soil to replenish it. When we consume organic food and food that is locally produced we minimize the impact on the environment (mitigation.) We can adapt to having less fossil fuels in the future by making sure that we can buy food locally. Food sources near us may become increasingly desirable as fuel becomes scarcer and more expensive. As consumers our choices affect the future of our health and our planet.

WARM-UP ACTIVITY

Large group brainstorm: What are your (least) favorite foods? Make a list. Why don’t you like these foods?

MAIN ACTIVITIES

Smaller group collaborative activity: Divide students into groups of three to six. The design challenge can be stated like this:

“Make up your favorite meal. Write the components on your dinner plate.”

(Start with Dinner Plate Handout without Food Groups shown.)

**Note: It should be a meal you would want to eat regularly. If not every day, several times a week. Don’t list your special or treat foods that you would have only once in a while.

Design Challenge Part I: Nutrition

What fuel and building blocks do our bodies need? What don’t we need?

Handout the Dinner plate with Food Groups and the Scorecard. Students will recreate or re-design their meal on the new plate using the information on the scorecard to guide them. Direct students to:

Use the Nutrition checklist to evaluate the components of your chosen meal.
Use the scorecard to evaluate the nutritional quality of your desired meal.
Make changes as suggested by the checklist. Re-score.
Discuss the changes made and your decision-making process with your group members.

Design Challenge Part II: Energy and Agriculture

How do foods compare in terms of energy efficiency? How willing are you to make changes to your diet based on that information?

Handout the Energy (and Agriculture) Chart. Direct students to:

Use the chart showing food and the ratios of energy input to energy output to evaluate your food choices.
Write the relative energy input/output for each of your food choices on your scorecard (and on your plate if you wish.)
Choose foods with a lower input to output ratio if you wish. Re-score.
Discuss the numbers and your decision-making process with group members.

Design Challenge Part III: Affordability

How can we save money on high-quality nutritious food? Direct students to:

Use the checklist on the scorecard for affordability to evaluate your everyday behavior around meal planning, food shopping and preparation.
Score your existing behavior.
Make note of changes you feel you would like to make. Re-score
Discuss the results and the process with group members.

Play the Wild Cards

The Wild Cards should be dealt to each table. Direct students to:

Study the wild cards you are dealt.
Trade wild cards with your group members, if desired.
Use them to adjust your meal score.
Compute your total score

Large Group Share

Each group can select one or two members to present their meal design process and results to the large group. “Winners” can be selected in each category and/or for the meal that gets the most votes for palatability. The relationship between “good” scores in the categories and what the most kids want to eat the most can be highly informative.

Engage students in a discussion on this question: What does it take to change behavior around food choices in favor of longer term goals like health, limiting environmental impact and saving money?

Extensions

Replay the game. Make up your own wild cards. Play the whole game with wild cards.

Calculate the relative contribution of greenhouse gasses CO₂ and H₂O (and methane?) from human respiration.

Balance the equation for cellular respiration to determine how many moles of greenhouse gasses are produced for each mole of glucose “burned”.

Dissect a variety of meat products from the supermarket such as a whole chicken, pork chops, chuck steak. Consider price per pound after wastes (skin, bones, and fat) are removed. How does the price of boneless, skinless compare?

Study essential amino acids. How to get them all from the diet, even a vegetarian diet.

Figure out the calories in your ideal meal. Study the calories in fast foods.

Assessments and Rubrics

The game may raise more questions than it answers. Capture the students’ questions and support them in their exploration of these questions.

The game is designed to propel the students through a series of analyses that are presented as givens. Students may drag in prior knowledge to explain why this or that is nutritionally valuable, energy-sparing or cost-effective. The teacher can encourage these connections. Students may come up with many questions while playing the game. The teacher can focus student awareness on this process throughout the lesson. The questions the students generate about the material should be captured, as much as any discoveries they make in the process of designing and re-designing the meal. By the end of the lesson, a class might have enough questions to design a research project on nutrition, sustainability and the economics of food consumption.

Near the start ask students to capture questions they have that are not answered by the game.

During the design challenges circulate among the groups. Have students explain to you: How well did their first try work out? If they then made revisions, what were they influenced by: other people’s choices? Better point profile? Information suggested by the checklist? How do they feel about better nutrition, using less energy and spending wisely on food? What questions have arisen that are not “answered” by the game?

(See also End of Lesson Reflection and Rubric )

For teenagers who are thinking more about thinking we need to point out to students their willingness to consider change. Does the student make the connection between the game and real life? Also the responsibility for food decisions will change as they mature and so the questions about who makes the decisions and plans and preps become more conscious. Is there evidence that the students understand the connections between climate change and food choices?

External Resources

www.choosemyplate.gov
www.storyofstuff.org
“Food for Humans” Chapter in Energy Action Technology Integrated Learning Activities (Secondary) published by the National Energy Foundation 2010.
David and Maria Pimentel’s article comparing plant-based and meat based diets. (Am J of Clin Nutrition Vol 78 no. 3 660S-663S, Sept 2003).
Css.snre.umich.edu/css_doc/CSS01-06.pdf on the US Food System
www.treehugger.com Energy required to produce a pound of food
www.sustainabletable.org/issues/energy/ Fossil Fuel and Energy Use, sustainable food – The Issues...
www.harpers.org/The OilWeEat.html The oil we eat: Following the food chain back to Iraq-By Richard Manning February 2004
www.energybulletin.net/node/5045 April 1, 2005 Why Our Food is So Dependent on Oi
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_meat_production
Riverford Farms Riverford Farm Cook Book: Tales from the Fields, Recipes from the Kitchenby Guy Watson and Jane Baxter