Lesson Plan on Organic Food

Grade School Lesson Plan on Organic Food

To begin teaching young children about organic food, see if the students can define organic or if they know what pesticides and herbicides are. Why might it be better to produce food without these chemicals?

Consider having a taste test of conventionally grown produce and organic produce. Ask children to rate which food they like better, and discuss whether organics taste better and why that might be.

If there's an organic farm near where you live, a field trip is a good way to really teach young kids about organic farming and why it’s a good idea. You can also talk about the environmental impact of choosing organic products and ways kids can talk to their parents (or even the school cafeteria) about using more organic products.

If there is space for the children to grow their own plants, starting a classroom organic garden is a wonderful way to bring lessons about organics home. Students can research organic gardening methods on the Internet or in books, start a classroom compost pile and take care of their plants using organic methods.

They can write reports about the different plants they are growing and any problems that come up from using organic methods (pest problems, weeding, etc.).

Middle School Lesson Plans

Finding a Lesson plan on organic food for older kids is much easier than for the youngest students. CNN has a great short lesson that gets students to look at the pros and cons of organic foods.

More current articles and other websites could be included in this curriculum, as well as adding a classroom debate in which some students advocate for organics while others argue that the conventional way is better.

A wonderful lesson plan from Canada looks at all aspects of the term organic and what it really means. The lesson plan focuses on geography, home economics and science to teach students about food production, links between the food producer and the consumer, and sustainability, among other topics.

Though this lesson plan is geared toward Canadian students, a little Internet research could make this a viable plan for students in the United States and other countries as well.

Lesson Plans for High School

Teaching high schoolers provides a good opportunity for developing a lesson plan on organic food because older students tend to have more critical thinking skills and more of a concept of how individual choices make a big impact.

The NewsHour has a lesson plan about genetically modified foods that can be added to a biology class. It looks at what genetically modified foods are, what foods students are eating that likely include genetically modified organisms, and what the implications are for the health of the planet and its people.

Another great source for lesson plans for older kids is Rustle the Leaf. This website has been putting out teacher resources every month since late 2004, so there are plenty of lesson plans to choose from. They do not all specifically talk about organics, but all have to do with our environmental impact on the planet. In particular you'll want to check out the lesson on genetically modified foods, in PDF format.

For teachers with a little available cash, Lesson Planet has a good collection of lesson plans on organic farming available for all age levels. Registration includes a 10-day free trial, after which you will be charged $24.95 a year to access lesson plans on all sorts of subjects.

Teaching students about organics is an important way to get them thinking about their personal environmental impact and what they can do every day to help protect the planet.