How To Teach Nutrition Through Project-Based Learning
What lessons do you remember best from your years in education either as a student or a teacher? Is it the lesson where there was a great experience tied to it? Maybe it was a project-based learning activity? I bet it was!
In my years of teaching one of my most successful and, dare I say, memorable lessons (for me and students!) has been a project-based learning activity with a component of service learning done through an in-school food donation drive.
Keep reading for all of the details to make this learning experience happen in your classroom.
What is Service Learning?
Service learning or experiential learning is similar to project-based learning in that students learn by doing. For service learning, the focus is on contributing to the community. That community might be in-school or focused on agencies and organizations in the wider community beyond the school.
Activities are often student-led and active participation is key to success. Students gain experience and skills in the moment of the activity (or experience) and then reflect on the process to reinforce these elements.
For students with disabilities, this is an ideal way to heighten engagement, focus on skill development, and incorporate independent living skills.
Read more about the benefits of service learning in this article.
Service Learning Lesson Plan
I like to include a service learning project in each month of the school year and one that is always a success year after year is a food donation drive. Here’s how I make it happen in my school community.
Decide on timing
The first decision is to find the right time to complete the project. I usually plan on 10 days for the project from start to finish. Most communities conduct food donation drives close to holidays but there is almost always a need throughout the year so check in with the organization where you’ll be donating. This will help you to choose a time that fits best with your plans.
I like to combine this service learning project with teaching about nutrition. Check out this post for more details about teaching nutrition and combining this project.
Donation plans
Decide how and where you’ll collect donations. Will this be for a few classes or school-wide? Where will you place collection boxes so they’re accessible but not in the way of traffic in the school?
Create advertising
Come up with a co-created plan with students about how the food drive will be advertised. Students can then create flyers or scripts for announcements to share in the school.
Learn about related topics
Spend time learning about food donation drives, volunteering, and community efforts. This could involve reading about each aspect or maybe it’s a field trip to a local sorting center or you could even invite a guest speaker to visit your classes to explain their work and the need for support.
Monitor and sort the donations
Make collecting part of the routine throughout the project. This will require another set of boxes or bins to be able to sort the items.
This is also another chance for learning. Students can count donations and while doing so they can sort and identify food groups. To build in math skills students can complete charts to track progress. Students can also assess what spots are best for collecting.
Want all of this in a ready-made format so you can focus on the project and not all of the set-up? Then you will want to grab this project-based learning unit resource today!
A Final Word on Project-Based learning
There are tons of learning opportunities within each stage of this service learning project, which makes it ideal for any time of the school year. There are activities that are hands-on or more focused on communication, which means that students can review or expand their sets of skills. And while all of this learning is happening the community is also benefitting from the project. All in all, this is a real win-win!
