Activity 1: Where Does it Grow?

Preparation:

On the day prior to class, give each student one Where Does it Grow? card. Try to distribute all of the cards, doubling up if needed. Assign students a homework activity to visit the produce section of their local grocery store to discover the location where their assigned fruit or vegetable was grown. Give students the following tips to help them succeed:

• If it was grown outside of the United States, it will have a sticker or label indicating the country it was produced in.
• Packaged produce (like baby carrots or bags of apples) often lists the name and city/state of the farm where it was grown.
• Loose produce, if it was grown in the United States, doesn’t always have an individual label indicating its origin. They can ask a produce worker to check the shipment boxes, which often have the name and location of the farm.
• If students exhaust the options above and cannot find an origin of their assigned fruit or vegetable, they should do a Google search and list the top 3 states (or countries) where it is grown.

Procedure:

1. At the beginning of class, project a map of the world on the board. Place a star on the map indicating "you are here."
2. Instruct students to tape their fruit/vegetable card to the board on the state or country where it was produced. Remind students that most if not all of these food items are available at a grocery store nearby. As you review the map, ask questions such as:
   • Which foods are grown closest to us?
   • Which foods have been grown the farthest away?
   • Are there any foods that are currently out of season for where we live? If so, are there any commonalities regarding the origin of out-of-season fruits and vegetables?
   • Are there any foods that we do not grow in the United States?
     • Note to Teacher: Sometimes when certain fruits and vegetables are out of season in one growing region, they are in season in another growing region that may be closer to or on the other side of the equator. Depending on the time of year and your climate, this pattern may be observed during this activity
3. Ask, "Why do you think each of these foods were grown in these specific places and then shipped here?" Allow students to brainstorm answers using their prior knowledge. If needed, provide guiding questions:
   • Why are oranges (or another tropical fruit) grown in subtropical or tropical locations instead of [Colorado] or [Nebraska]? (Climate. Citrus fruits do not tolerate cold temperatures.)
   • Why aren't bananas grown in the United States? (Climates in the United States are not ideal for bananas. Most bananas we eat are grown in Latin America.)
   • Could any food crop be grown in any location across the United States? Why or why not?
     • Teacher Tip: Additional guiding questions will be dependent on the current season and where you live.
4. After your class discussion, have students summarize the answer to the question (in step 3) into a few words. (Students will likely identify weather or climate.)

Climate is only one factor that determines where food is grown. This lesson focuses on the science of climate and food. Many more factors such as economics, technology, government regulations, available space, and available workers also impact where food is produced. For a cross-curricular lesson, explore the question "Where does it grow?" in a scope beyond science.

Activity 2: What is Climate? Climate's Connection to Food

1. Ask students to define and compare the words weather and climate. Then, show the video, Weather vs. Climate.
2. Brainstorm and list on the board geographical factors or conditions that contribute to a climate in a given area.
   • Temperature:
     • Higher elevations typically have colder climates and shorter growing seasons. Lower elevations are often warmer.
     • Latitude, or distance from the equator and location on the North or South of the equator impacts temperature, duration of seasons, and the time of year for each season.
     • The yearly average temperature is important, but the range (lowest to highest temperature) is critical to plant growth. Even just a few days of extra cold temperatures can freeze and destroy a crop.
   • Precipitation:
     • The annual amount of rain and/or snowfall. Arid climates limit plant growth.
     • Irrigation can increase ability to grow crops in specific areas if water can be collected in reservoirs (usually from winter snow pack) and then used throughout the dry summer.
3. Give each student one copy of the Climate's Connection to Food handout and instruct them to read it. Write the following question on the board, "How is climate connected to our food supply?" Inform students to be prepared to answer the question after they complete the reading.
4. Have a post-reading class discussion about the connection of food and climate. Conclude that farms are established in locations where the climate is conducive to plant growth needs. Food transportation by truck, plane, train, or cargo ship allows foods to travel a long distance from farm to consumer.
5. Ask, "How would our diets differ if we didn't transport food from one climate to another?" (Some climates would be very limited in the variety of foods they could eat. Other climates would be less restricted, but would likely see a difference in variety and year-round availability.)
6. Project the Major U.S. Climate Zones map and review the climate zones. Gather the "Where does it grow?" cards (of the foods that were grown in the United States) and place them on the climate map to see what climate they were grown in.

A relatively small number of foods available at your grocery store might have been grown in a greenhouse. Keep this in mind if one of your students has a food that originated from a colder climate. Greenhouses use technology to artificially create a climate adequate for plant growth. This allows more foods to be grown in climates that are naturally too cold for plant growth.

Activity 3: Food and Climate Change

1. Return to the question posed in the Engagement portion of the lesson. Ask students, "Could bananas ever be grown in America's breadbasket?" Have a class discussion prompting students to reflect on what they have learned.
2. With a basic knowledge of the connection of climate and food production, ask the following questions:
   • Does climate change impact our food supply?
   • Would climate change impact farms around the world equally?
   • Would climate change be all negative in every region of the world?
3. Project the Food and Agriculture of the United Nation's map on the board. Explain that this map uses 2050 as an end point and estimates which countries in the world will likely see a decrease in food production due to climate change and which would see an increase in food production as a result of climate change.
4. Show the video Climate, Agriculture and the Challenges Ahead.
5. After the video, explain that there are two ways we can act in the face of climate change. First, we can mitigate climate change by making more climate-smart choices to decrease our greenhouse gas emissions. We can also try to adapt to a changing climate.
6. As an example, show Climate Smart Farming Story: Adaptation and Agriculture. Begin at 0:34 and stop the video at 2:24.
7. Use the following questions to check for comprehension and discuss the video:
   • Why is frost damage a concern in climate change if the winters are getting warmer? (Temperatures induce apple trees to come out of winter dormancy and bloom. Warmer winter temperatures can induce temperatures too soon, leaving the apple tree at severe risk of frost damage. When apple blossoms freeze, they will not produce apples.)
   • What can apple growers do to adapt to a changing climate? (They can use technologies such as misting systems, wind machines, and advanced weather alert systems to avoid or minimize frost damage. They can also rely on plant breeders to develop varieties of apple trees with later seasonal bloom times.)