Eating sustainably
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can compare the impacts that different foods have on climate change and suggest ways to eat more sustainably.
Key learning points
- Producing food for humans and other animals uses resources and releases greenhouse gases that lead to climate change.
- Land-use change, farming, processing, transport, retail and packaging all add to the carbon footprint of food.
- Meat and plant-based products have different carbon footprints.
- Food production is more sustainable when it has a smaller, negative impact on the environment.
- Changes in diet and a reduction in food waste can help us eat more sustainably by lowering greenhouse gas emissions.
Keywords
Climate change - a long-term shift in weather patterns
Emissions - releases of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere
Greenhouse gases - gases in the atmosphere that keep it warmer than it would be without them
Carbon footprint - the calculated total amount of greenhouse gases emitted by an activity
Sustainable - can be carried out over a long period of time with little or no negative impact on the environment
Common misconception
Thinking that what we eat has no impact on climate change, or that all foods have roughly the same impact.
This lesson explores in detail the impacts of different foods in terms of their "carbon footprint" of greenhouse gas emissions.
Teacher tip
Carbon footprints are measured in "kg carbon dioxide equivalents". It might be worth giving pupils a simple explanation such as that this means the emissions could be carbon dioxide or the equivalent amount of other greenhouse gases such as methane.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which are facts about a renewable resource are correct?
Q2.How long would it take to notice whether climate change was happening where you live?
Q3.Which of the following gases is a greenhouse gas?
Q4.Which of these is not a greenhouse gas?
Q5.To produce less waste we need to reduce, reuse and .
Q6.Which of the following activities does not produce greenhouse gas emissions?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.The calculated total amount of greenhouse gases emitted by an activity is called a carbon ?
Q2.Which of the following statements about greenhouse gas emissions are correct?
Q3.What is the carbon footprint of producing a particular food?
Q4.Starting with the food with the greatest carbon footprint, sort these foods into order of decreasing carbon footprint.
Q5.A activity can be carried out over a long period of time, with little or no negative impact on the environment.
Q6.Which of the following is least likely to help us to eat more sustainably?
To help you plan your 7 science lesson on: Eating sustainably, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 7 science lesson on: Eating sustainably, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 science lessons from the Climate change and living sustainably unit, dive into the full secondary science curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.