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Lesson 4

We will read and annotate “10 Things You Need to Know about the Global Food System,” paying attention to any words we do not know or fully understand. Then, we will split into pairs or trios and unpack each of the 10 sections, defining key terms that will shape the rest of our unit.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I use a variety of strategies (e.g., context clues, word study, and vocabulary resources) to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words and phrases introduced in the article “10 Things You Need to Know about the Global Food System”?

  • Can I express an accurate understanding of the major issues and challenges facing the global food system?

Texts

Core

  • Unit Reader
    • “10 Things You Need to Know about the Global Food System,” Evan Fraser and Elizabeth Fraser, Guardian News & Media Ltd., 2019
  • Digital Access
    • “Feeding Nine Billion Video 1: Introducing Solutions to the Global Food Crisis,” Evan Fraser, Feeding 9 Billion, February 21, 2014

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Discuss

We will participate in a teacher-led discussion about the current state of the Food system and some of the problems it entails.

Revisiting some of the topics discussed from the food systems and food map lessons, discuss some of the current issues facing a modern food system as a class. Some questions to consider include the following:

  1. Thinking back to the food map lesson, what are some problems the environmental, social, farming, and economic sectors of the food system might be facing?

  2. What role does food access play in the global food system?

  3. What are some topics you have read or heard about on the news, the radio, online, or social media that are related to the future of the food system?

Activity 2: Read – Write

We will read and annotate “10 Things You Need To Know About The Global Food System,” paying attention to the vocabulary.

Read the entire article independently, carefully annotating key topics and circling any words you see as important or are struggling to understand. Write down at least five new, challenging, or interesting words in your Vocabulary Journal.

As you read the article, consider the following questions, which you will be asked to respond to later in this lesson:

  1. What makes the global food system inequitable?

  2. What are some of the major challenges facing the global food system? How can we make the system more fair?

  3. What is the role of food policy in tackling some of these challenges?

  4. What are the relationships between the global food system, the environment, and climate?

Activity 3: Read – Discuss – Write – Present

After annotating the article, we will research and define the most important vocabulary in the text. We will then write these words on the board and provide a brief definition.

With a partner, discuss the 3-5 most important vocabulary words or new words you found while reading. You might use a Vocabulary in Context Tool for words you can decipher from the text; for others, you might use morphology to decipher the meaning, or a reference resource to check if your meaning is accurate. For some words, your teacher might present you with definitions.

Write down the words and definitions in your Vocabulary Journal. For each word, identify the vocabulary strategy (e.g., context, morphology, reference resource) you used to determine its meaning. After coming up with working definitions and vocabulary strategies for all of your words, present and discuss them with the rest of the class.

Activity 4: Discuss – Write

Using the vocabulary words we just defined, we will create a Word Map of these key terms and demonstrate how they are connected to one another.

Your teacher will begin by writing one key term on the board. With your partner, think about a key term you just defined that is related to that word. Come up to the board and add your word along with a brief definition and a line to the words it connects to.

As a class, continue to draw lines and connections to each of the vocabulary words that are added to the board. The end result will look like a large web of key terms.

Note any new vocabulary terms to your Vocabulary Journal.

Activity 5: Read – Write

We will take a closer look at the introductory sentence to this article, “10 Things You Need To Know About The Global Food System” and examine its syntax.

Read the following sentence, presented at the beginning of the article “10 Things You Need to Know about the Global Food System”:

"There is enough food for everyone on the planet to lead a healthy and nutritious life, but the global food supply is deeply inequitable."

After reading the sentence, respond to the following questions about the sentence’s meaning, structure, and syntax:

  1. What words stand out to you in the sentence? What effect do these words have?

  2. What are the authors trying to communicate in this sentence?

  3. Is the sentence effective in conveying its meaning? If so, what makes the sentence effective in conveying meaning?

  4. What do you notice about the structure and punctuation of the sentence? What effect does the use of the conjunction but have?

  5. How would the meaning of the sentence change if the conjunction but were not used to link its two clauses?

Once you have answered the above questions, try rewriting the sentence on your own using the same words except for the conjunction but. You might choose to change the order or the entire structure of the sentence. As you are rewriting the sentence, think about whether or not the meaning of the sentence changes.

Write down the mentor sentence, your notes, and your original sentence in your Mentor Sentence Journal.

Activity 6: Discuss

We will discuss some of the main takeaways from the article, “10 Things You Need To Know About The Global Food System.”

As a class, discuss some of the key topics addressed in "10 Things You Need to Know about the Global Food System" using the following questions from Activity 2:

  1. What makes the global food system inequitable?

  2. What are some of the major challenges facing the global food system? How can we make the system more fair?

  3. What is the role of food policy in tackling some of these challenges?

  4. What are the relationships between the global food system, the environment, and climate?

Activity 7: View – Write

We will watch the video “Feeding Nine Billion Video 1: Introducing Solutions To The Global Food Crisis.”

For homework, watch the video "Feeding Nine Billion Video 1: Introducing Solutions to the Global Food Crisis,” which accompanies “10 Things You Need to Know about the Global Food System.” As you watch the video, use the Video Note-Taking Tool to track the different details, quotes, or examples that you find that connect to the following text-specific questions:

  1. What issue or question is Dr. Fraser attempting to solve and how does he frame it?

  2. What are some of the major challenges facing the global food system?

  3. How does Fraser propose we solve the issue?

  4. Fraser says, “Of course, each of these four strategies has its drawbacks.” What purpose does this transition serve? Why might Fraser point out drawbacks to these strategies?

Write down new or interesting words from the video in your Vocabulary Journal.