With the rethinking of food waste through an educated selection programme, education on sustainability and food waste is both attractive and educational. Comprehensive lesson plans, video resources and interactive activities allow teachers to have everything they need to spark meaningful conversations about food waste and its environmental impact. Plus, it’s free and a huge bonus for teachers and schools.
To see how the program works in real-life classrooms, we asked environmental educator and teacher Christine Arsenis to try out a food waste lesson that we’ll rethink at her intermediate environmental club. This is her teacher’s choice review and why she recommends the program to other educators.
Who is the program suitable for?
I was in New Jersey and used a food waste program that I rethink with my 7th and 8th graders (children) at the Environment Club. Overall, the lesson package is suitable for all students over the age of 12 (7th grade and above).
Does this product match curriculum standards?
My school uses NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards) for our district. You know this lesson meets both standards of sustainability and natural resources and their management. (You can also find all the standards listed in all programs here.)
Christine Arsenis/Educated Choices Program
How did you use the food waste program you rethink in your classroom?
I used a lesson creation video about one of the lesson plans that comes with food waste, quizzes, and materials. We also completed some of the proposed activities. For example, my students reinforced important concepts from videos by creating a vertical display of knowledge. This activity was in good agreement with the club’s mission to collect breakfast daily from the homeroom to donate to the local church’s food pantry.
How did your students like to rethink food waste?
Overall, my students were quite impressed with rethinking food waste. The part they enjoyed most was working with guided practice from the second day lesson, where they were asked to find ways to define environmental impacts, food supply chain stages, and sustainable choices.
I put them in three groups to help students begin the thinking process. Each group focuses on one of three topics: the environmental impact of food waste, the food supply chain stage, or sustainable choices to reduce food waste locally, statewide, and nationwide.
My students worked together to bounce ideas off of videos as well as from their own personal experiences. The video content seemed more realistic and applicable to everyday life.
Christine Arsenis
Do you think this is a simple program implemented by teachers?
All the materials and videos from the educated selected program library are very intuitive. The video is very clear. They provide a great summary section towards the end to help students remember what the video is about. We appreciate how easy the lesson guide can be followed and providing a complete set for educators looking to complement their curriculum with relevant information.
What makes this program unique?
I like versatility among different types of educators. From videos to guided notes, all the entire learning packages in between, provide educators with almost a week of lessons for their students.
We appreciated the clarity of the lesson guide for our educated choice programme and the quality of each lesson’s day. Educators also like the flexibility to add their talent to each lesson package.
Christine Arsenis
How do you save time and make education easier?
It’s great to plan on following each lesson package. As well as these plans and the corresponding standards they cover, teachers from all backgrounds will be available to use with their students. I found myself working in health and physical education classes, economics classes, science classes, and family and consumer science classes. Educated selected program learning packages actually cater to a wide range of educators.
Are you planning to use your educated choice program again in the future?
As a 7th grade science teacher, one of our three main topics includes environmental science, the final unit of the grade. Students in each seventh grade complete a project that reached its peak in late May, known as NatureFest, where they carry out research projects on organisms and biomes native to New Jersey, but they can’t spend much time thinking about food and agriculture. I was able to see students enjoying other programs through educated options, including Future of Food, Planets, our plates, and growing community roots. These topics highlight global perspectives and help teachers connect them to local and statewide levels. These packages help encourage students to think of Naturefest projects.
Did your students have an aha moment? If so, what were they?
My students were surprised to see how much our food came from other countries/continents. India, for example, is the country that produces most dairy cows and products. It made them want to check their food labels more, or they attract the companies they attract for food and snacks to see the origins of their production.
Christine Arsenis/Educated Choices Program
How do you think this program will help students view food waste differently in the future?
My club students run a program that collects unopened breakfast items during the homeroom. My students understand food waste and their impact on the local community, so they can guide their knowledge into action. Apply what they learn to their daily breakfast collections and track how our school reduced food waste.
Check out Christine’s review of this free program in the classroom through this video.
Teacher Picks is a sponsored program available from We Are Teachers. All opinions shared in the reviews are honest and based on the teacher’s first-hand experience. Click here for more information about the guidelines and review process.
