Fifth Grade Foodies

Timeline

What is the story behind the food we eat?

What is food?

Where does it come from?

How do plants grow?

How do we get food from animals?

What is involved in processing food?

What food does our body need?

How can we support the producers of our

food?

How can we support people who don’t have

High Tech Elementary – Miss Della Rocca’s Class Fall 2013

Essential Questions

Each student will plant seeds and care

for the growth of a vegetable plant.

Students will develop a website for an

organic farmer at Creek Bend Farm in

Tennessee to market his products,

educate his clients and share the story

of food with others. Students will

organize in groups to develop copy for

the website and then collaborate as a

class to produce one website.

The class will also organize a food

drive to support hungry families in the

San Diego community.

Products

This project will span twelve weeks ending on

December 19th, 2013 at HTe’s school-wide

project exhibition. At least four field

excursions will provide for hands-on learning

outside of the classroom.

OverviewWhen asked to define food, 10-year-old kids respond with

things like “something delicious” or “material that we need”

or “something that we make”. Several understand that food

provides us with energy and some know it contains

nutrients (though they’re not sure what nutrients are). It 

seems obvious that understanding what we eat each day – 

where it comes from, what it contains, how it is made -

should not be such a mystery.

This project endeavors to give students a chance to explore

the origins of the food they eat each day. They will discover

where food comes from; how different foods vary; the

nutritional value of food; the impact of food development 

on the environment; and various aspects of processing,

preserving, and preparing food of different kinds. They will

also learn about how different regions or populations have

a scarcity of food and they will act to support people in our

own community who struggle to put enough food on the

table for their families.

Field experiences to local urban farms and water

conservations centers will give students exposure to people

in the community who are involved in producing food,

using various farming methods and facing the particular

challenges of providing water to growing plants and

animals in a dry climate.

Finally, students will connect with an organic farmer in

Tennessee to learn about sustainable farming. They will

collaborate with this farmer to develop a website to support 

his business.

 

 

Assessment 

As students complete learning

activities around various aspects

of food they will use rubrics

designed together as a class to

assess their own understanding.

These rubrics will focus on:

Content (academic

material & skills learned)

Collaboration

Contribution

Critique

Creativity

Critical thinking for

understanding (i.e., ability

to ask questions, make

connections and

summarize new learning).

Students will present theirlearning at an exhibition onThursday, December 19th at HTe.

In addition to displayingthe process of theirlearning about food, theywill invite visitors to viewtheir new website forCreek Bend Farms.

Students will:

Learn about the systems of the body & how food provides

nutrients to support our health.

Compare the nutrition value of various foods.

Explore how food makes it from the farm to the table

including plant growth, water usage, soil preservation,

and farming practices.

Discover how meat is raised for food.

Determine reasons for promoting sustainable farming

practices.

Analyze statistics of food scarcity (local & international).

Develop an appreciation for the steps that go into

processing, preserving and preparing food.

Research the local history of food production.

In the process of this project, several skills will be developed:

Expository & Creative Writing

Scientific inquiry

Summarizing

Questioning

Collaboration

Empathy

Learning

 

Exhibition