“Greener Greens? - Are the food choices we make sustainable?” is a collection of student inquiry-based research projects that are designed to question ethical and sustainability issues surrounding global food production and consumption, and possible resulting impacts on climate change and biodiversity. It challenges students' assumptions that the all-year-round availability of non-seasonal fruits and vegetables is necessary, or moral, through critical analyses of data, and personal case studies. Beyond this, the question of whether political or economic agreements between countries to supply and receive goods that can be sourced locally to each other, is questioned. The role of science in society on a global and personal scale is used to evaluate commercial and media-based arguments on sustainability. Tasks are designed and undertaken by first year students, (13 years of age). The results are expected to be an increased awareness of their role and impact within the biosphere.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

The student:

• has a developing awareness of the origins and impacts of social, economic, and environmental aspects of the world around her/him
• develops the awareness, knowledge, skills, values and motivation to live sustainably
• values what it means to be an active citizen, with responsibilities in local and wider contexts
• understands the importance of food and diet in making healthy lifestyle choices
• recognizes the potential uses of mathematics and ICT in all areas of learning
• values the role and contribution of science and technology to society, and their personal, social and global importance
• explores options and alternatives by engaging in scientific enquiry where she/he generates and seeks answers to their own questions and evaluates the process to determine the optimum outcome
• conducts research relevant to a scientific issue, evaluates different sources of information including secondary data, understanding that a source may lack detail or show bias
• organizes and communicates her/his research findings in a way fit for purpose and audience, using relevant scientific terminology and representations
• evaluates media-based arguments concerning science and technology
• understands how humans influence the Earth’s climate, evaluate the effects of climate change and initiatives that attempt to address those effects
• evaluates how humans can successfully conserve ecological biodiversity and contribute to global food production while appreciating the benefits that people obtain from ecosystems
• adopts a systems-thinking approach to understand complex processes

RRI principles

One of the key aspects of OSOS is the inclusion of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI)principles (more information at RRI-Tools.eu). This is how this Accelerator fits into the RRI model:

Governance:

It is important that this project involves different agents of society (such as families and neighbors), since they are the ones who can benefit most from the conclusions of the activity. Therefore, it is important that students know their feedback, so that they can improve the results of the project.

I.e.: students will have to share responsibility in carrying out this project with different stakeholders, such as families and neighbors, interviewing them to know their point of view and share the different intermediate results obtained during the activity.

Public engagement:

Students will be able to make decisions collaboratively, with the participation of stakeholders involved in the project with whom they can create an association with the aim of improving the results and conclusions obtained, sharing them with stakeholders.

I.e.: students will have the feedback of the stakeholders involved, who will contribute their point of view and experience in the problem proposed by this Accelerator. Students will be able to make decisions in a collaborative way, sharing the results with the stakeholders that have participated and with the objective of involving society.

Gender equality:

Students will make decisions based on a gender equality approach, which are aimed at both men and women. The working groups of the project will be formed by an equal number of men and women, in order to provide a neutral view of the problems related to food.

I.e.: students will arrange interviews with stakeholders in order to obtain a neutral vision in terms of gender equality. In addition, the work done in this Accelerator can provide a neutral point of view that can be used to solve problems for both men and women.

Science Education:

Students will be able to develop the project based on a series of social, economic and ethical principles around food and its consequences in society. During the activity, students will be able to contribute a scientific vision that provides value when it comes to managing and working with the challenges found.

I.e.: once the context in which this activity is developed is understood, students will be able to use scientific tools and concepts to solve the problems raised through the scientific method. In addition, students will also be able to disseminate what they learned during the project with the aim of training citizens to make decisions through science.

Ethics:

Students will share the results of the activity with all stakeholders involved, making them participants in a scientific project that can impact on the society. Students can also reflect on current issues about food and society during the different phases of the project.

I.e.: Students must take into account ethical aspects of science when developing the activity, sharing responsibility for the results obtained with the stakeholders involved in the project.

Open Access:

Students will share their progress in a public and open access, studying the different types of licenses that exist to create and share content on the Internet. The aimof these materials will be to disseminate the problems that exist about the feeding choices that exists.

I.e.: students can use online channels (websites, social networks) to disseminate information about their achievements. For example, with an infographic on the seasonal fruits and vegetables or with dissemination materials around the topic.

Addressed challenge: we all eat, but is what we eat healthy? Do our students know what seasonal fruits and vegetables are? In the 21st century it is usual to find everything, at any time; however, this is not the most 'natural' thing. This FEEL phase will introduce our students to the temporality of food and which options are healthier and more balanced, as well as more friendly to nature.

AVAILABLE PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES:

RESOURCES NEEDED:

Very little... it relies on food packaging that show the countries of origin which are collected from the students' recycle bins and interviews with relatives and friends. In addition, internet access provides the opportunities for students to search for, and evaluate, information about global food production, sustainable living, increased dependence on monoculture, reductions in biodiversity and the effects of greenhouse gasses on climate change.

OTHER/NOTES:

This activity was triggered by the introduction of seasonal fruit in the school canteen (bananas and pineapples) and a realization that students had no idea about seasonality

URL TO FIND MORE INFORMATION:
http://www.confeyscience.com/greener_greens.html