Food Waste Warriors: A Virtual Quest for Zero Waste

The problem
Food waste hyperproduction in school cantina.
The solution
Motivating students to efficiently manage food through educational XR game.
The prototype
XR app game accessible via QR codes
The societal actors
students, teachers, parents, local vegetable producers, IT experts, scientists

Hosted by SALL , contributed by dali8319 on 3 July 2023

Computer science students create an educational XR (eXtended Reality) game on sustainable food management concepts accessible to all school students via QR codes.

Teacher: dali8319
Student Age
6-7
8-9
10-11
12-13
14-15
Technologies (computing, engineering, digital literacy, etc)
Project theme
To eat or not to eat, now is the question

Many schools are facing with the overproduction of food waste in their cantinas because of the students unhealthy and insufficiently developed eating habits. Students mostly like fast food like pizza or hot dog, and cooked (or fresh) food from local vegetables producers is not their favourite choice. The lack of knowledge (students, teachers, school cooks and parents) on how food can be both healthy and tasty, how the food supplying schools can be sustainable and green while comes from the local producers, and getting to know circular economy concepts is something with what everyone should be familiar with, because it's one way to make schools a sustainable food environments, and by that, helping to create sustainable and healthier communities, and, the most important, our planet, by saving its resources.

How to stop food waste in school cantinas?

As the students are digital natives and daily users of technology, the main idea is to use technology and gamification to gain students attention and affect them to change their eating habits and raise awareness for responsible food management. 

The XR game will provide educational content and challenges on food topics that will contribute to changing the mindset of the students (and their families) about the sustainable and healthy eating habits by, throughout the XR game challenges, also involving their parents, family and other members of the local community.

Stakeholders for sustainable school food system

The project has not been implemented yet, but it will involve other stakeholders (beside students and teachers) in the work process:

  • parents: involved actively in performing tasks and challenges with the students, providing them help and assistance in any project faze
  • local vegetable producers: From fields to the table - hands-on experience on where does the food come from, what does it take to grow it; organize a field trip with students, perform a workshop that involves food growing activity (with the help of the teachers so the activity / activities fits the subject / school curriculum; if plausible, the local vegetable producer can be parent with the fitting profile
  • IT experts: workshop or presentation from the field of extended reality (XR) digital content development; if plausible, the expert can be parent with the fitting profile
  • scientists: workshop or presentation on the topic of sustainable development, sustainable food management, healthy eating habits etc.; if plausible, the scientist can be parent with the fitting profile
XR quest: Saving the World One Bite at a Time

Computer science students (age 14-15) will participate in XR digital content creation (XR educational game for all elementary school students, 1st to 8th grade), so in that way they will also be learning about food waste management and responsible food consummation, and all school students will be able to access the QR codes placed all over the school. They will use the XR app to scan the codes that will lead them to the food challenges or quest, created in a form of a game activity. 

The XR game app can be created, dependent on what type of XR equipment school have (VR headsets or just smartphones with XR apps installed (BYOD concept or school equipment)) in any XR digital content creating app by teachers / students choice. Some examples of (free) XR content creation apps are:

 

The process of creating XR digital content should follow the learning process of food sustainability concepts. Resources for educational materials for the CS (Computer Science) students can be reached online through PBL (Project Based Learning), or through organizing workshops, field trips or lectures held by any other project stakeholder.

Useful online repositories and resources:

 

QR code generators:

From Waste Warriors to Change Makers

Students will fill out a survey on how project activities impacted their eating habits and write their thoughts on how changing their eating habits can affect the change in the community.

Teaching Sustainable Eating through XR Technology
  • new quests / task created on monthly basis so the student's activity and motivation stays on the topic
  • placing the QR codes outside the school building (school yard or even wider school area) to make it accessible  other members of local community
  • expand the project with citizen science activities (collecting data on waste food amount etc.)