PBL Unit created by: Michele Achey Jennifer Brandon Lindsay Nash Colleen Toomey

1. PBL Unit created by: Michele Achey Jennifer Brandon Lindsay Nash Colleen Toomey

2. Big Idea Recycling in unconventional ways: Food

3. Challenge • Design a plan to reduce food waste in the cafeteria of our school, community, and home.

4. Language ArtsMichele • Guiding Questions • 1. Have you ever fought for something you believe in? • 2. Who would you contact and how would you recruit help for an environmentally friendly project? • 3. How could you spread the word about your environmentally friendly project? • Activities • 1. Read Hoot by Carl Hiaasen • 2. Write a Business Letter to Administratorsand Food Service Director • 3. Short Film/Video Clips gathering data about food waste at school

5. ScienceJennifer Guiding Questions: • What are the essential components of a compost pile? • What role do decomposers play in composting? • How could you help reduce waste in your school or home? Activities: 1. Watch video from DE“From waste to Food: The Decomposition Process 2. Listen to the eBook on Decomposers. 3. Read the passage on Discovery Education “Making Compost Pile” 4. Research on Google 5. Design a compost pile that could be used in the school.

6. Social Studies Lindsay Guiding Questions Where are the nearest landfills located to the school and community? What is the estimated cost to fuel the dump trucks? How often do our school and community have waste pickup and delivery to the landfill? Activities • Use Google Earth to locate and map out the nearest landfills. • Use the chart you recorded and the websitewww.gaspricewatch.com to find the estimated cost of fuel for the dump truck to pick up the waste and deliver it to the landfill record your discoveries. • Arrange a meeting with the school administrator, kitchen manager and the maintenance manager. Discover how often the waste is picked up at our school. • Using the information you have gathered, determine the estimated total cost of waste pick up at the school.

7. MathColleen • Guiding Questions • 1. What are ways to improve smart spending and eating at school and in your household? • 2. How can you help your fellow peers save money on lunch? • 3. What are the benefits of managing your money when it comes to food spending? • 4. How can you help make others aware about the global issues of food consumption? • Activities • 1. Money Matters Activity (cafeteria prices) • 2. Fruits and Veggie Video Contest • 3. Outreach Numbers Activity (world hunger) • 4. Build my cookbook (recipe calculations) • 5. Family Food Audit (smart savings)

8. Rethinking the Problem of Food Waste

9. Research • Language Arts: • Short Film/Video Clips gathering data about food waste at school allowed students to see first hand the food waste in our school and provided them with footage they could use later in the project for the PSA. • Science: • Research the necessary components needed to design and build a compost pile that will be used in the school. • Social Studies: • Students will use the landfill mapping information to share with the PSA project. • Math: • Students will develop a more cost effective outlook when buying food items in and out of the school setting.

10. Proposed Solution Public Service Announcement/informative commercial depicting the importance of reducing food waste and how to set up and implement a compost pile at school in order to reduce food waste.

11. Actions • Timeline • Film PSA and post on YouTube (1 week) • Set up and establish compost pile (3 weeks) • Design and plan fundraiser (1 week) • Fundraiser (1 week) • Measurement of Success • Number of YouTube hits from PSA • Amount of food recycled • Cost savings • School Fundraiser • Sell units of compost for community use