LESSONPLANTEMPLATE

TitleofLesson:One in Five.
Grade:5thGradeWriting

STANDARDS
ScienceConcept1PO2:Formulatepredictionsintherealmofsciencebasedonobservedcauseandeffect
relationships.
5.W.1Writeopinionpiecesontopicsortexts,supportingapointofviewwithreasonsandinformation.

LESSONSUMMARY/OVERVIEW
Studentswillparticipateinafooddistributionlessonandparticipateanddiscussthrougheachstep.Theywill
displaytheirunderstandingbyansweringquestionsfromaworksheetandthoroughgroupandclass
discussions.

OBJECTIVES
Studentswillbeabletoanalyzeinformationfromafooddistributionexampleandcreateanopinionwriting
pieceonwhatarethecausestohunger.
Studentswillbeabletomakepredictionsaboutwhatwillhappentotheworldifthistypeoffooddistribution
continues.
Subobjectives:
(What)Afooddistributionscenarioallowsstudentstoseethevarious
waysfoodisusedandoftenwasted.
(How)Thestudentswillparticipateintakingandeatingfoodthatis
providedtothemandlearnhowthedistributionamongclassmatescanbeunfair.Theywillwitnessthis
firsthandandalsobeabletostrategizehowtomakethisfair.
(Why) Being aware of the food distribution of the world, allows
studentstobeinformedaboutthissystemandhelpdiscoverssomeofthecausestowardshungerand
poverty.

ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION
Studentswillcompleteaflowmaprecountingtheactivity,answerquestionsonaworksheet,andwritea
paragraphthatdescribescausestopovertyandhunger.Thestudentsmustcompleteallsectionsinorderto
earnfullcredit.

PREREQUISITEKNOWLEDGE
Studentswillneedtoknowhowweusefoodeverydaypersonallyaswellasasociety.
ThatwehaveafiniteamountoffoodavailableonEarth.

MATERIALS
 Cheeri Flow
os map
M&M Tape
s orsafetypins
Raisin Paper
s cups
Hard Blue
Candies/Mints andRedindexCards
4
bowls
 VOCABULARY/KEYWORDS
Distributiontheactionofsharingsomethingoutamonganumberofrecipients.
Determinecause(something)tooccurinaparticularway;bethedecisivefactorin.
Povertythestateofbeinginferiorinqualityorinsufficientinamount.
Hungerafeelingofdiscomfortorweaknesscausedbylackoffood,coupledwiththedesiretoeat
Connectionarelationshipinwhichaperson,thing,orideaislinkedorassociatedwithsomethingelse.

TEACHINGPROCEDURES
1. Begin with a signal/attention getter. Once the teacher has the students attention, Explain to students that
you are going to perform an activity about food distribution and that they will be able to determine the
importance of food distribution in the world.
2. Count off students 1-5 and every 5th student will be given a red card. Students 1-4 get blue cards. Have
students safety pin or tape these cards onto themselves. Hand each student a paper cup. (Make sure the
paper cups are pre-marked. Students with a Red index card should have a cup that is marked half way
and those with a Blue index card have a mark at the top of the cup.)
3. Show them the four bowls of food. Explain to them that it will act as the different food we have in the
world. Tell students that when they are called up, they can take any of the food from the four bowls and
place it into their cup. They may have a mix of the ingredients or not, it is up to them. Also, tell them that
they are only allowed to fill up their cups up to the line that is marked. Also, inform students not to eat
their food.
4. Call up the students with a Blue index card first. Allow them to get as much as they desire and do not say
anything. Call up the students with a Red index card next and have them fill up their cups.
5. Now, at this time, have students write independently and reflect about how much food they got, if they like
the food they got and if they thought the amount they got was fair. Have them write this on one side of
their index card.
6. Next, tell students that they are allowed to share their food at all, if they desire.
7. After this, get a 2nd reaction on the other side of their index card and let them write what difference it
made to share? Did they feel better?
8. Collect the class as a whole group and re-evaluate these questions and the scenarios you just played
through. Ask them how this is relevant to food distribution. Ask them what they think the red or blue
index cards meant. Discuss the roles of each of these cards and how they were different. Ultimately, get
students to realize that this is how food is distributed around the world.
9. After the students realize the purpose of the activity, separate students into groups of 4-5 and have them
thoroughly discuss food distribution with the worksheet questions. Although students share ideas and
discuss through each question together, make sure they each fill out their own worksheet.
10.Bring students back to the whole class, and discuss the impacts of food distribution. After this, ask
students to think of what other reasons there could be hunger and discuss it with a partner.
11.Share these ideas with the whole class. After getting a few ideas, share specific ideas that you got as a
teacher, through research, other causes to hunger. Discuss these thoroughly. (If time allows, you may have
students perform their own research on other causes.)
12.In the ending, ask the students:
-What would happen if we continue these things?
-What can we do about this situation?
-How can we dissolve hunger or help those who struggle with hunger?
Instruct students to think individually, then with a partner, and then share out to discuss as a class touching
on the idea of reusing or reducing water usage.

13.Tell students that you are going to hand each of them an Exit Ticket, where they need to write an opinion
piece paragraph about what they predict will happen in the future with hunger using evidence from the
different causes you gave in the lesson and through their discussions.
14.Pass out these papers for students to complete independently. Walk around the classroom and give
students written and oral feedback.
15.To close, go back and address the standard, making it an I can statement. Review what the food activity
showed us and what plan we created to react to the activity. Once a couple of students have shared, ask the
 students to turn in their worksheet and paragraph to prepare for the next subject. Allow students to eat
their snacks.

RESOURCES
Lessonrevisedfrom:OneinFive
http://www.povertyusa.org/povertyresources/educationcenter/gradesk5/
Worksheet(attachedbelow)

WAYSOFTHINKINGCONNECTION
UseSystemsThinkingtohavestudentsdiscussthecausesofpovertyandhungerandthentobrieflystart
thinkingofdifferentwaystochangeitbasedoffouractivity.ValuesThinkingcanbeappliedwhendiscussing
thedifferentwaysthatweaccessanduse/eatfoodeverydayandhowwecanbemoreconsideratewithhow
weeat.UsingtheseWaysofThinkinginthislessonwouldenablestudentstoparticipateinamoreglobal
awarenessdiscussionrelatedtofooddistribution.

One in Five

1. What are some of the problems with food distribution?

2. How can the food distribution in this demonstration lead to hunger?

3. What are some of the ways we interact with food everyday? (How do we access
it?, Do we waste it?, Do we play with it?, How often to we eat it?, etc.)

4. How does our interactions with food affect those who are hungry?
 5. Using complete sentences, explain how hunger is influenced by food
distribution. Why is it important? What did you find interesting or learn from this
activity?