Choices, Choices: Fossil Fuels and Food

Summary

Students will develop a rubric to rate foods on their "ecological friendliness".

Materials

• Paper and pencil OR
• computer
• Fossil Fuels and Food article (attached)
• Oil and Food article (attached)
• student page (attached)

Instructional Procedures

1. Show your students an apple and a piece of bread. Ask them to think about the fossil fuels that may have been used in the production of each. See if they can decide which is more "ecologically friendly" in terms of reduced fossil fuel use.
2. Explain that we know fossils fuels will eventually run out and that scientists agree that using fossil fuels increases CO2 in the air and is affecting global temperatures.
3. Hand out an article to each student. The article "Oil and Food: A Rising Security Challenge is longer and should be given to better readers.
4. Ask the students to underline or sticky note sentences that describe a way fossil fuels are used to produce food.
5. Handout the student sheet and work through an example with students. They need to identify the remaining criteria and rate the five foods with it. The ratings will be largely guesses but may be based on information they learned in the "Frontloading Food" activity.
6. Have students compare their work and read one example of a criteria and rating.
   

Bibliography

Lesson Design by Jordan School District Teachers and Staff.