Healthy Foods from Healthy Soils

by Patten, Elizabeth; Lyons, Kathy; Stevens, Helen

• ISBN13: 9780884482420
• ISBN10: 0884482421
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-03-01
• Publisher: Tilbury House Publishers

Summary

Healthy Foods from Healthy Soils invites you and your students to discover where food comes from, how our bodies use food, and what happens to food waste. You'll participate in the ecological cycle of food production >compost formation >recycling back to the soil, while helping children understand how their food choices affect not only their own health, but farmers, the environment, and your local community.Elizabeth and Kathy use simple concepts and fun activities to show children the big picture-how quality soil is the basis of nutritious foods, and how eating a variety of wholesome foods leads to healthy bodies. Their program enhances existing curricula through methods that include writing, art, scientific investigation, music, and puppetry. Suggested resources encourage you to adapt the program to your needs, small scale or large. For instance, the activity "What If All I Ate Were Potato Chips?" encourages children to investigate the nutritional value of foods, while a seed-sprouting experiment "teaches through the taste buds." School gardens such as an Appetizer Garden or the legendary Three Sisters, or a series of classroom worm-composting activities help students discover the role nutrients play in healthy plant production. Handy extension activities demonstrate ways that students can help effect change in their own lives and communities. Background information, suggested readily available materials, and clear instructions give you enough guidance to integrate these activities into your classroom right away.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	viii
Introduction	x
How to Use This Guide	xi
Using Puppets: Annelida in the Classroom	xiv
WHERE DOES FOOD COME FROM?	1	(50)
Lets Get Grounded	1	(24)
It's a Small World Demonstrate the finite nature of earth's resources	2	(4)
Are All Soils Created Equal? Make soil quality comparisons	6	(4)
Alive and Thriving! Play a micro-farm game to learn what plants need	10	(5)
Go to Seed! Welcome a classroom visitor to illustrate seed germination	15	(3)
Sprout Yourself! Take a storytelling break	18	(3)
Bark and Seeds for Breakfast Play a guessing game and snack on plant parts	21	(4)
Who Grows Our Food?	25	(26)
What Is Locally Grown? Map the sources of the food you eat	26	(5)
Old-Fashioned Food Conduct a mini-oral history project	31	(4)
Once Upon a Farm Take a storytelling break: visit the agricultural life gone by	35	(4)
Visiting a Grower Organize a field trip to an ``outdoor classroom''	39	(5)
Figuring Out Our Food System Create a food system collage	44	(4)
The ART in AgRiculTure Harvest a crop of poems	48	(3)
CHOOSING FOOD FOR BODY & SOUL	51	(80)
Choosing for Health	52	(41)
Dear Diary. . . . Keep a food and health diary	53	(6)
Pyramids Near You Plan a regional menu using the food pyramid	59	(4)
Anatomy in Action Build a model digestive tract	63	(4)
Read the Small Print Practice consumer skills	67	(4)
What Are ``Whole Foods''? Differentiate between processed and unprocessed foods	71	(4)
Pick a Food, Any Food Classify a ``typical'' diet using a Venn diagram	75	(3)
French Fries and Couch Potatoes Analyze television's influence on food choices	78	(5)
Sugar Detectives Find the sources of hidden sugar in common foods	83	(4)
What If All I Ate Were Potato Chips? Examine the consequences of food choices in a ``typical'' diet	87	(4)
Feast for the Eyes Design food for beauty---way beyond ants on a log!	91	(2)
Choosing for Taste	93	(23)
The Global Staff of Life Bake with whole grains	94	(5)
Guess with Gusto! Play a guessing game to experience the range of senses	99	(3)
Taste Buds Rule Explore the sweet, the sour, the bitter, the salty, and ``umami''	102	(3)
Oodles of Noodles Compare, then prepare a pasta meal	105	(5)
What's for Lunch? Travel the Internet to learn about lunch around the globe	110	(3)
Traditions at the Table Trace the roots of different food traditions and customs	113	(3)
Choosing for Costs	116	(15)
Dollars and Sense Calculate and compare prices based on nutrients	117	(6)
Farm to Table Calculate the travel costs for foods you consume	123	(5)
Dear Diary . . . Again Reviewing our food and health diary	128	(3)
PUTTING ``GARBAGE'' TO WORK	131	(42)
Tracking Food Waste	132	(15)
It All Adds Up Chart your lunchroom's food waste	133	(5)
Lunch at the Dump Tour a landfill, transfer station, or recycling facility	138	(5)
Recycled Art Create puppets using recycled objects	143	(4)
A Worm's-Eye View of Composting	147	(26)
Vermicomposting Basics Sidebar	148	(5)
Vermi-Condos Build a small-scale ``worm farm'' for classroom observations	153	(4)
What Worms Want How to make authentic vermicompost in the classroom	157	(7)
Compost Creatures and Friends Play Worm Bin Bingo and make a Worm Bin Field Guide	164	(6)
Black Gold: A Small Business Lesson Composting for change!	170	(3)
LET'S GROW OUR OWN	173	(34)
Room to Grow Imaginary play activity provides review of garden basics	174	(5)
Vegetable Pop-Up Puppets Make vegetable puppets that ``grow''!	179	(2)
What Does Your Garden Grow? A review of practical hands-on garden basics	181	(3)
The Real Dirt Sidebar	184	(3)
Grow a Row Sidebar	187	(3)
The Classroom Is Sprouting Observe seed germination close-up!	190	(5)
Sow Many Seeds! Celebrate diversity and variety in the garden	195	(3)
Theme Gardens Sidebar	198	(2)
How to Keep a Good Thing Going Preserving food for later	200	(3)
Soil Made My Supper! Dramatize the food cycle through a ``Theater in the Round''	203	(4)
Appendix	207	(21)
Glossary	207	(5)
Commoner's Laws of Ecology	212	(2)
Ten Steps for Taking Action	214	(1)
Food Security and Food Recovery	215	(2)
Making Food with Children	217	(2)
Selected Nutrition Information	219	(2)
What Do We Have in Common with Plants?	221	(2)
Dietary Guidelines	223	(2)
Creating a Recycled Sock or Nylon Wiggler Puppet	225	(3)
Bibliography	228	(21)
Index	249	(6)
Finale: The Salad Garden Cafe and a Salsa Fiesta!	255