Build an Action Plan for a Food Drive, Free Classroom Learning Activity

STANDARDS & CONNECTIONS:

NGSS.3-5-ETS1, NGSS.MS-ETS1, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.4

SUGGESTED MATERIALS:

Access to the internet, paper, colored markers

BACKGROUND:

Forty million people struggle with hunger in the United States, including more than 12 million children. About 795 million people in the world do not have enough food to lead a healthy active life. That’s about one in nine people on Earth. Many households who visit charitable food programs make difficult choices in order to meet basic needs. Specifically, households served by the Feeding America network report choosing between food or medical care, housing, transportation, and utilties. Food insecurity can be extremely stressful situation for a person or household. When people don’t know where their next meal will come from, their central focus becomes securing that next meal and it can be diffucult to focus on other important things like school and work.

PROCESS:

Identify

Share the background information with the students, then share the puzzle to be solved. Determine constraints (e.g., time alotted, space, materials provided, etc.) and divide students into small groups.

Imagine

Ask a series of questions to help students brainstorm solutions to the puzzle. Encourage students to list all ideas – don’t hold back! Before moving on, make sure each group selects a solution that fits within the contraints.

Ask: How can you can solve this puzzle? Which of your ideas can you build a prototype for given the constraints?

Design

Students diagram the prototype, identify the materials needed to build the prototype, and write out the steps to take. Students describe the expected outcomes.

Ask: What steps will you take to create your solution? What do you expect your solution to look like and be able to do?