About this project
The purpose of this project is the development of a global, collaborative classrooms project which will provide a context for students to:
The initial sources of inspiration for this project were the book, Hungry Planet - What the World Eats, which is both a beautiful and profound essay on the people of our planet and the food they eat; the Edible Schoolyard Project where students grow and cook their own food, as many of the content standards are taught through this project; Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, in which the goal is to change school lunch programs worldwide by providing fresh, healthy foods; Richard Louv's book, Last Child in the Woods, an excellent compilation of research on the relationship of being in nature to the physical and emotional health of children and the direct impact on a student's academic achievement; and the One Day on Earth film project, in which the goal is to create a documentary of one day on Planet Earth, and to include film footage from every country in the world.
Brainstorming the possibilities for participation by teachers and students from PK-20, as well as the participation of chefs, scientists, anthropologists, mathematicians, health care providers, historians, archaeologists, filmmakers, architects, environmentalists and many other experts, we began to develop a framework for the project. We developed strands of curriculum, or Issues and Themes, based upon the connections we derived from the overall theme of Food and Culture.
We know that students learn best when they are engaged with the curriculum. And we know that in order to become engaged and motivated, students must be involved in curriculum that is relevant, rigorous and real-world. It is not enough to dole out little content pellets from our educational Pez dispensers, rushing students through a process that is basically meaningless to them. Real learning requires context, connections, time to think and time to make mistakes.
We realize that for many teachers and their students the day is chopped into seven or eight 55 minutes class periods; this is challenging when we are attempting to provide our students with the kind of educational experiences we know will lead to engagement, motivation, understanding, authentic learning, and yes, even to higher test scores. We know that they need a curriculum that is connected, interdisciplinary and project-based, and which allows students the opportunity to conduct real research, to identify and propose solutions to real-world problems. We also know that when students' needs are met they will be motivated to learn. William Glasser identified the four basic needs that must be met before students really learn: the needs for power, freedom, fun and belonging. We can easily meet those needs when we have designed our classrooms and schools to do so. Projects such as Food and Culture offer the context for a 21st century curriculum.
This framework is developed so as to allow for maximum flexibility, and is easily modified to fit the needs of teachers and students depending upon the age of the students, the courses being taught by the teachers, the daily class schedule and most importantly, the individual needs and interests of the students and teachers. This curriculum/project can be implemented as a year-long study, as a six to twelve week unit, as a special project devoting a one or two-hour period each week throughout the school year, as an excellent After School program, as a Service Learning project (or several) or as an Independent Study! Your class can be divided into expert groups, with each group focusing on a different Room. Or you can allow students to work independently, in pairs, or groups of three, as they pursue an issue or theme about which they are passionate. (Students working “independently” would still be required to collaborate with someone in another country.)
We adopted the metaphor of Rooms and Places to identify the various curriculum strands, issues and themes (and those are growing in number). Your class may elect to focus their project in just one Room or Place, such as The School Cafeteria, the United Nations, Culinary Arts or Cradle2Cradle. Whether you teach preschool, have a self-contained elementary classroom, or you teach Biochemistry or Automotive Technologies, you can connect to and participate in this project.
Thank you for registering! If you have not yet registered your class you may do so here.
- Develop knowledge, skills and habits conducive to excellent health
- Practice habits of responsible citizenship - locally to globally
- Develop Global Competencies by studying "with" the world instead of "about" the world
- Develop critical 21st Century Skills
- Become engaged in a rigorous, relevant and real-world project
- Engage the knowledge within the disciplines through research, problem solving and application
- Learn - as opposed to memorizing then forgetting discrete facts
The initial sources of inspiration for this project were the book, Hungry Planet - What the World Eats, which is both a beautiful and profound essay on the people of our planet and the food they eat; the Edible Schoolyard Project where students grow and cook their own food, as many of the content standards are taught through this project; Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, in which the goal is to change school lunch programs worldwide by providing fresh, healthy foods; Richard Louv's book, Last Child in the Woods, an excellent compilation of research on the relationship of being in nature to the physical and emotional health of children and the direct impact on a student's academic achievement; and the One Day on Earth film project, in which the goal is to create a documentary of one day on Planet Earth, and to include film footage from every country in the world.
Brainstorming the possibilities for participation by teachers and students from PK-20, as well as the participation of chefs, scientists, anthropologists, mathematicians, health care providers, historians, archaeologists, filmmakers, architects, environmentalists and many other experts, we began to develop a framework for the project. We developed strands of curriculum, or Issues and Themes, based upon the connections we derived from the overall theme of Food and Culture.
We know that students learn best when they are engaged with the curriculum. And we know that in order to become engaged and motivated, students must be involved in curriculum that is relevant, rigorous and real-world. It is not enough to dole out little content pellets from our educational Pez dispensers, rushing students through a process that is basically meaningless to them. Real learning requires context, connections, time to think and time to make mistakes.
We realize that for many teachers and their students the day is chopped into seven or eight 55 minutes class periods; this is challenging when we are attempting to provide our students with the kind of educational experiences we know will lead to engagement, motivation, understanding, authentic learning, and yes, even to higher test scores. We know that they need a curriculum that is connected, interdisciplinary and project-based, and which allows students the opportunity to conduct real research, to identify and propose solutions to real-world problems. We also know that when students' needs are met they will be motivated to learn. William Glasser identified the four basic needs that must be met before students really learn: the needs for power, freedom, fun and belonging. We can easily meet those needs when we have designed our classrooms and schools to do so. Projects such as Food and Culture offer the context for a 21st century curriculum.
This framework is developed so as to allow for maximum flexibility, and is easily modified to fit the needs of teachers and students depending upon the age of the students, the courses being taught by the teachers, the daily class schedule and most importantly, the individual needs and interests of the students and teachers. This curriculum/project can be implemented as a year-long study, as a six to twelve week unit, as a special project devoting a one or two-hour period each week throughout the school year, as an excellent After School program, as a Service Learning project (or several) or as an Independent Study! Your class can be divided into expert groups, with each group focusing on a different Room. Or you can allow students to work independently, in pairs, or groups of three, as they pursue an issue or theme about which they are passionate. (Students working “independently” would still be required to collaborate with someone in another country.)
We adopted the metaphor of Rooms and Places to identify the various curriculum strands, issues and themes (and those are growing in number). Your class may elect to focus their project in just one Room or Place, such as The School Cafeteria, the United Nations, Culinary Arts or Cradle2Cradle. Whether you teach preschool, have a self-contained elementary classroom, or you teach Biochemistry or Automotive Technologies, you can connect to and participate in this project.
Thank you for registering! If you have not yet registered your class you may do so here.
Proceed to Introduction
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