THE BIGGER PICTURE

A variety of agricultural production systems are used to produce food around the world. Some systems rely on the continuous addition of resources, while others use resources more efficiently. In this lesson, students evaluate various food production techniques in terms of their environmental sustainability and potential for producing enough food to feed a growing world population. Students first respond to a video which introduces the inspirational movement of young people using agricultural innovation to address the global food crisis. Students then read articles about five different agricultural production systems, assign sustainability scores to food production techniques, and present their findings. Through teacher-led discussion, the class determines the most sustainable method of food production. Students then justify the best food production technique for the country they investigated in Lesson FS1. Students transition to the next activity (Lab FS1: Creating an Efficient System) by reviewing abiotic and biotic factors needed by each system to produce food.

FOR EDUCATORS

Please use this Complete Food Security (FS) Module link to access the most up-to-date version of our Food Security Curriculum Module (last updated 04/16/2019) which is currently being field-tested. All student and teacher worksheets and handouts are attached as additional pages to the end of each corresponding lesson. If you would like to field test these lessons, please email us at see@systemsbiology.org.