-
APRIL 14-17, 2014Our focus for this year is "Peace begins on our Plates." We have our gardens up and running, which is awesome. Now, for Earth Week, we will educate about nutrition in a new way. We believe that all children should understand the story of their food: where it comes from, how it was produced, what it means for personal and public health, and how our food choices affect the environment. Equipping children with food and nutrition education will empower them with lifelong skills. Research on food education has shown that:• Knowledge about food and nutrition increases children’s fruit and vegetable consumption.
• Cooking and preparing fresh foods enhances children’s appreciation for healthier and diverse foods.
• Planting and harvesting fruits and vegetables motivates children to also eat them.
For Earth Week (and the week before), we have planned some exciting activities for the elementary schools, including in-class Smartboard lessons, a coin drive, interesting apps, and games in the computer lab, new library books on this topic, morning announcements, and a lunch time seed planting activity so students can grow their own at home!
IN-CLASS LESSONS DETAILS
“Eat Real” is an easy to use, 3-lesson unit, compiled by Brookside teacher Becky Koch from the Helping Youth Eat Real curriculum developed through the Teachers College Columbia University. The entire unit can be previewed at http://www.foodday.org/resources. Notebook file links have been provided to teachers.
DETAILS OF FUNDRAISER
The coin drive in support of Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) begins April 7th and ends April 17th. SHI works with families in rural farming communities in Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. Using organic vegetable gardens, wood-conserving stoves, seed saving and a host of other projects, SHI's local field trainers work together with families, individuals and communities to preserve our planet's tropical forests while helping to overcome poverty. Their multi-pronged approach to solving the agricultural, ecological and economic problems of Central America is innovative, hands-on and long-term. A very cool 30 minute film about the program can be viewed here:
• As an incentive we are offering a field trip to the California Science Center IMAX to see the new IMAX film, Island of Lemurs: Madagascar in 3D. The trip will be held on Monday, May 19. The class at EACH elementary school that raises the most funds will be invited on the field trip.
RESOURCES
Below are some additional resources you might want to explore:
http://www.foodday.org/resources
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-tktxb3J_U
http://www.whatsonyourplateproject.org/
With much appreciation,The Environmental Education and Awareness Committee
