Project Title: Bugs For Lunch
Mission:
Culminating / Take Action Project
What Kids Learn
In this project, students learn about the environmental impact of our food and why bugs can have a significantly smaller impact on the environment compared to other protein sources. To help students understand our environmental impact, they’ll learn all about how all living organisms need food energy to survive, and how all forms of food energy start with the sun. Students will use models such as food chains and food webs to show how energy is transferred from one organism to another. Then, students will compare and contrast the resources required to produce bug protein versus other meat and plant-based proteins, as well as the resulting environmental impact of this production. Students will learn to confront barriers that hold people back from eating bugs, and grapple with whether or not it makes sense to incorporate bugs as part of a balanced diet.
Overview
Life Habit Focus: Creativity
Subject: Earth Science, Life Science, ELA
Grade: 3-5
Topic: Transfer of energy in ecosystems, food webs, earth’s resources
Project preview
Food Allergy Warning
The “Bugs For Lunch?” project explores insects as a food source. In this project, kids do not eat bugs, but they are exposed to the idea of consuming them. There are two key warnings educators should consider:Â
- Students with shellfish allergies are more likely to be allergic to bugs. Students with other food allergies should also be careful when eating new foods.Â
- Students should not eat bugs they find outside or around the home and should only eat insects from a trusted source.Â
Project Materials
Project Module
Student Notebook
Teacher's Guide
Materials List
Virtual Field Trips
One of our goals is to help kids connect what they are learning in our projects to the real world beyond the classroom. To do that, we’ve partnered with experts to help students learn from and virtually visit with experts from around the world. The “Bugs for Lunch?” project partners with:
Chef Joseph Yoon
Entrepreneur Rose Wang
In their Take Action Project, students meet entrepreneur Rose Wang. Rose teaches students how to pitch an idea that compels others to take action. Rose teaches students three strategies to create a compelling pitch, including: the parts of an effective pitch, making a pitch deck, and having confidence and poise.
Aligned Standards
Common Core Reading (CCSS):
- Informational/Nonfiction Standards R.I. 1-10 for grades 3-5
- Reading Literacy Standard L 5 & 6 for grades 3-5
- Writing Standards W. 1,4,5 for grades 3-5
- Listening and Speaking Standards SL. 1-6 for grades 3-5
NGSS Standards:
Performance Expectations (PE):
- 5-PS3-1. Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun.
- 5-LS1-1. Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.
- 5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.
- 5-ESS3-1. Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment.
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Science and Engineering Practices (SEP):Â
- Use models to describe phenomena.
- Engaging in Argument from Evidence
- Developing and Using Models
Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCI):
- PS3.D Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life: the energy released from food (in people or animals) was once energy from the sun that was captured by plants in the chemical process that forms plant matter (from air and water).
- LS1.C Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms: food provides animals with the materials they need for body repair and growth and the energy they need to maintain warmth and for motion.
- LS2.A Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems: almost all food of any kind of animal can be traced back to plants. Organisms are related in food webs: some animals eat plants, some animals eat the animals that eat the plants. Organisms can only survive in environments where their particular needs are met. A healthy ecosystem is one where multiple different species are able to meet their different needs in a relatively stable and connected web. New species can damage the web.
- LS2.B: Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems: matter cycles between all organisms, air and soil in an ecosystem. Organisms obtain gasses and water from the environment and then release waste back into the environment.
Crosscutting Concepts (CC):
- Energy can be transferred in various ways and between objects.
- Matter is transported into, out of, and within systems.
- A system can be described in terms of its components and their interactions.
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