Attacking the Global Food Shortage
 By:  Marcy Hartzlar

Project at a Glance :

This project asks students to consider the causes and effects of the predicted global food shortage, and to propose an action plan for addressing one of the effects. Students will use research from Language Arts, concepts about global climate change in Science, and mathematical data interpretation skills to form and support their action plans. (5-6 week project)
       
Driving Question:

As a future leader in our world, how can you help address the predicted global food storage anticipated by 2050?            

Standards:

• Earth Science: global climate change, human impacts on climate change over history
• ELA: Informational reading

Team / Culture Building:

• True colors, Anonymous applications, group contracts
• Start of the year team-building with specific skills focus: Moral dilemmas (Desert Island), The Anti-Problem, and activities from Gamestorming​ book.

Entry Event:

• Food insecurity simulation
• Community food experience
• Global food inequality simulation

Stakeholders:

• Students and their families
• Farmers: family and industrial
  
• ZFS & Mud Lake Farms
• Genetic engineers for crops and seed
  
• Ball Horticulture
• Food Providers - Meijer/Farmer's Market

Empathy Building:

• Cascading consequences charts for the 4 food chains
• Collect information through a community survey regarding eating habits and food availability
• Personal inventory of eating habits and food availability

Inquiry / Need to Knows:

• ​ After the Entry Event, groups will create a Padlet of Know/Need to Know questions for the DQ. 
• Students will use this article to help focus their investigations on one of the proposed steps.
• Students will read The Omnivore’s Dilemma to glean information about different food chains.
• Students will connect the food chains to global warming causes and effects using cascading consequences charts 
• Stakeholder Interview: farmers (ZFS), farm-to-table restaurant owners, nutritionists, Holland Farmers’ Market​

Incubation:

• Provide a DQ that is non-Googleable
• Provide access to a variety of sources and examples related to the DQ
• Continually consider the needs and perspectives of stakeholders
• 100 Idea Quota, then read “Feeding 9 Billion” article and sort into steps on Padlet​

• Keep an ongoing list of problems encountered in The Omnivore’s Dilemma, from experts, within science investigations, throughout investigation
• Revisit Cascading Consequences Charts​

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Solution Building:

• Choose one of the solution steps from the National Geographic article to focus on.
• Conduct additional research on that step’s topic
• Identify most prominent problems within that step and their causes 
• Brainstorm action steps for each cause from the Root Causes organizer. 
• Students will use the list of established criteria and constraints to choose one of their action steps.
• Students will create an infographic to share their solution idea with their group.

Critique and Revision: 

• Critical Friends (at group request, with prototype product)
• On-going Pluses/Deltas feedback
• Develop list of criteria and constraints to guide each solution step​

Authentic Audience:

• Each group will be charged with locating and contacting a stakeholder related to their solution step. Students will email their chosen stakeholder to either attend the presentation or to see if they would be willing to view an online version of the presentation if presenting in person is not an option. Groups with similar stakeholders can present to the same stakeholder or invite several for a round-table discussion.  Students should consider inviting stakeholders they interviewed during the process.

Final Presentation:

• Products will vary widely depending on the solution step students have chosen to focus on and the nature of the solution. For example, students who have chosen to focus on shifting diets may choose to create a recipe book, pre-filled shopping list, or other tool that a family could use to make food choices that limit the negative impacts of industrial agriculture.​

Reflection and Feedback:

• Presentations will be scored using the PBLWorks presentation rubric.
• At the conclusion of the project, students will complete an individual and group reflection Google Form where they consider both the project and their use of 21st Century Skills and the Skills for Success. They will also set goals for the next project.​

Click here for the  teacher's Journey through PBL on Padlet.

Meet the Educator:

Marcy Hartzlar teaches 7th and 8th grade at ZQuest School, Zeeland Public Schools.  ZQuest is a multi-age school that operates on a balanced calendar.  

​     "Much like a multi-tool is to campers, I feel like PBL is the do-it-all tool for education. It helps kids uncover content, learn 21st Century Skills, gain confidence, and apply their learning in authentic ways, all while being fun and challenging!"