conservation

The protection and preservation of resources.

Introduction Story

No Apple Left Behind

Flipbook Link

How can we help Mylo, Suzi and Angelina preserve food at their school?

reduce

Using fewer resources to decrease waste.

reuse

Using resources more than once.

recycle

Changing old products into new ones.

design process

A step-by-step way to solve problems.

I Can Make a Difference!

In this activity, you will learn about conservation and identify ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle. You will take a walk around the school and find places where you (and others) can reduce, reuse, and recycle. You will post messages to let others know how they can help with conservation.

I can…

I can…

Home-Connection-Print here

Let’s Think About It

• Did you learn of any new ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle?
• Think about the ways we found to reduce, reuse, and recycle at school. Which of those can you also do at home?

Conclusion Question

1. What are some ways you can conserve at home?

How Much Food Do We Waste?

Now that you have learned about reduce, reuse, and recycle, we are going to learn how much food the class wastes and brainstorm ways we can waste less.

observe

To watch and listen to something.

inventory

A list of items belonging to a person or space.

produce

Food that comes from a plant and typically grown on a farm.

waste

Anything that we throw away.

Let’s Think About It

• What did you learn or find surprising about the food inventory?
• Think about the cafeteria waste. How do you think that might be different than our classroom waste?
• Where do you think waste goes after we throw it away?
• Why do we want to reduce the amount of food that goes into a landfill?

Reducing Food Waste With Chef Yousef

Conclusion Question

1. Now that you have learned about reducing, reusing, and recycling, what might you do differently the next time you have food that you do not eat?

An Apple’s Journey

In this activity, you’ll have a chance to think more about your food by exploring the journey of an apple—where it originates and the path that it takes to get to you. You will also learn about what happens to food that is not eaten and how preserving and reusing food is one way to reduce food waste.

orchard

Land used for growing fruit trees.

An Apple’s Journey

An Apple’s Journey

What might we do with apples that end up in a pile of waste other than just throw them away?

food decomposition

The process of food breaking down and rotting.

Apple Decomposition Time Lapse

food preservation

Slowing food decomposition in order to eat or use it later.

Conclusion Question

1. How is food wasted?

Keeping Our Food Fresh

In this project, you will investigate and test different types of materials to slow the rate of decomposition in order to preserve half an apple.

scientist

A person who asks questions, makes observations, and investigates ideas to acquire knowledge and/or solve problems.

Packaging

Food Preservation With Chef Yousef

scientific inquiry process

A process that scientists use to explore observations and answer questions.

Scientific Inquiry Process

Apple Preservation Material

Conclusion Question

1. How can food preservation reduce food waste?

No Apple Left Behind

You’ve learned about conservation and how preserving food is important to reduce the amount of waste we create. You’ve also investigated different characteristics that materials need to preserve an apple. In this problem, you will use the design process to explore, sketch, build, and evaluate a food preservation design. You will use recycled materials to build your design in order to reduce waste.

engineer

A person who asks, questions, observes, and gathers information to create new products or make old products better.

design process

A step-by-step way to solve problems.

Engineering Design Process

Let’s Think About It

• Why do engineers use the design process?
• Why is it important to ask questions as you work through the design process? Why do you think that?
• In the video, we learned that it is important to understand the problem before looking for a solution. Have you ever identified a problem and then looked for a solution? 

evaluate

To test a model to see how it works.

Conclusion Questions

1. Now that you’ve seen other food preservation designs and how others used the materials, what would you do differently if you could start all over?
• Why would you make these changes?
2. What other tools do you think would help preserve food?
• Why do you think these tools would be useful?