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Lesson 3

We will continue to explore the subtopic question: Are new technologies, such as indoor urban agriculture and vertical farming, viable solutions to sustaining a global food system? We will learn about a solution aimed at increasing access to sustainably grown food: vertical farming. We will watch a video and read an article that provide varying perspectives on the impact of this solution and proposed new technology. We will practice delineating arguments of two opposed positions and continue to think about the environmental, economic, social, and farming impacts of the proposed new solutions.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I recognize points of connection between two different visual models and make objective and logical comparisons about the impact of these models and what they tell us about the future of growing food?

  • Can I identify the claims, reasoning, and evidence used to develop arguments and explanations both in favor of and against the use of vertical farming as a proposed future solution to feeding a growing population?

Texts

Core

  • Digital Access
    • “The Vertical Farm: A Keystone Concept for the Ecocity,” Dickson Despommier, TEDx Warwick, April 9, 2013
  • Unit Reader
    • “Enough with the Vertical Farm Fantasies: There Are Still Too Many Unanswered Questions about the Trendy Practice,” Stan Cox, Salon.com, LLC., 2016
    • “Nourish Food System Map,” Nourish, WorldLink, 2014

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: View – Write

We will watch “The Vertical Farm: A Keystone Concept For The Ecocity,” a TED Talk given by Dickson Despommier, a microbiologist who outlines how vertical farming can help cities become more sustainable. This is a speech he gave at the TEDx Warwick conference in 2013.

Watch Despommier’s TED Talk using the Video Note-Taking Tool as a guide for tracking details and claims.

While you watch Despommier’s talk and take notes on the various details presented, pay attention to the claims he makes and how he uses evidence or examples to back up his claims.

As you take notes, consider the following guiding questions:

  1. What are the main challenges that Despommier identifies at the beginning of the talk?

  2. How do these challenges compare to those in other materials we have encountered in this unit?

  3. How do these challenges relate to the global food system?

  4. What is Despommier’s main claim about vertical farming?

Activity 2: View – Write

Using the Visual Analysis Tool, we will compare the sustainable eco-city model that Despommier shares in his TED Talk to the Food system map we studied in section 1.

Your teacher will project or display the Sustainable Eco-City model that Despommier shares in his speech, as well as the Food Systems map from Section 1.

Examine each diagram carefully.

Use the Visual Analysis Tool to think about the details presented in the two diagrams and the possible connections or distinctions between the two.

As you analyze and compare the two diagrams, consider the following questions:

  1. How are the diagrams constructed similarly? What elements exist in both?

  2. What is missing from the sustainable eco-city model that is in the food systems map?

  3. What do these diagrams tell us about the future of growing food?

  4. What do these diagrams tell us about how to grow food more sustainably?

Activity 3: Read – Write

We will read and annotate an argument made by Stan Cox.

Read and annotate "Enough with the Vertical Farm Fantasies: There Are Still Too Many Unanswered Questions about the Trendy Practice" by Stan Cox. As you read, use the Delineating Arguments Tool to identify and analyze Cox’s claims.

Consider the following guiding questions:

  1. What position does Cox take?

  2. What claims does Cox make to support his position?

  3. What evidence does Cox use to support his claims?

  4. How does Cox support or counter Despommier’s claim that we are running out of land to grow food? What evidence does he use?

Activity 4: Read – Discuss

We will compare the claims made by Despommier and Cox as to whether vertical farming is a sustainable solution that can help solve global Food system challenges.

Using the examples of Cox’s claims you identified in the previous activity, the Delineating Arguments Tool, and your notes from the Despommier speech, compare the claims made by Despommier and Cox as they relate to the following question: Are vertical farms a sustainable and viable solution in meeting the global challenges facing the future of food and agriculture?

Using the organization of the Delineating Arguments Tool as a guide, compare and discuss the purpose of each text, the perspective and position that each author communicates, and the supporting evidence they present to support their claims.