For this unit, we will be using our research and synthesis skills to learn about the food system in our country and how it impacts our bodies, our economy, and our environment. We will also be exploring how sustainability in food is empowering and liberating--both for the individual and for the community.
You will have two major grades (in addition to several smaller grades) for this unit: an annotated text (that you will select from a list on the class website), a research project, and the presentation of that project.
Here is a calendar of our research dates:
March 30-31—media center—research skills, website evaluation, research of the topics
April 6-7—continuation of research, organization of project, storyboards. Storyboards are due at the end of class on April 7.
April 13-14—project production. Your project should be completed by the end of class on April 14 and ready for review by the teacher.
April 20-21—Presentations of research projects.
I will be assigning your groups and topics. Don't even try to ask me to change them. :)
GMO's: Sam, Veronica, Andrea
Organic v. Non-Organic: Juan, Tom S., Isabelle
Sugar: Chris, Eileen, Zachariah
Fish, the Perfect Protein?: Brandon, Ryan, Ikeme
Locavore and Urban Farming Movements: Corinne, Taylor
Farm Labor: Thomas B, Leticia, Dominic
Factory Farms: Nathan, Miles, Larry
For the project, you will be researching your assigned topic with your group and creating a 3-5 minute presentation about your topic—including both the problem and solutions to the problem. You will receive separate grades for the presentation itself and the project you create. We will be working in the media center and in the classroom for much of the month of April on this project. (See attached rubrics.)
Book Annotation Assignment
Select and procure one of the books from the list below. If this book also aligns with the topic for your research project, that is awesome. It is not required, however, that you select a book that deals with the same topic as your research project.
Your assignment for the annotated book is pretty simple: read the book and use post-its to annotate (take notes on the book—write questions, insights, parallels, ideas, etc.—kind of like what you did with To Kill a Mockingbird but without the actual double-entry journal). To receive full credit you will need a minimum of 25 post-its with annotations of the text. This assignment will be due on April 26.
Once you have completed your annotation, you will write a constructed response for the following topic: “What is the author’s main argument in this text, and what were the strongest arguments put forth?” This assignment will be due on April 26.
Making Annotations: A User’s Guide
As you work with your text, consider all of the ways that you can connect with what you are reading. Here are some suggestions that will help you with your annotations:
You will have two major grades (in addition to several smaller grades) for this unit: an annotated text (that you will select from a list on the class website), a research project, and the presentation of that project.
Here is a calendar of our research dates:
March 30-31—media center—research skills, website evaluation, research of the topics
April 6-7—continuation of research, organization of project, storyboards. Storyboards are due at the end of class on April 7.
April 13-14—project production. Your project should be completed by the end of class on April 14 and ready for review by the teacher.
April 20-21—Presentations of research projects.
I will be assigning your groups and topics. Don't even try to ask me to change them. :)
GMO's: Sam, Veronica, Andrea
Organic v. Non-Organic: Juan, Tom S., Isabelle
Sugar: Chris, Eileen, Zachariah
Fish, the Perfect Protein?: Brandon, Ryan, Ikeme
Locavore and Urban Farming Movements: Corinne, Taylor
Farm Labor: Thomas B, Leticia, Dominic
Factory Farms: Nathan, Miles, Larry
For the project, you will be researching your assigned topic with your group and creating a 3-5 minute presentation about your topic—including both the problem and solutions to the problem. You will receive separate grades for the presentation itself and the project you create. We will be working in the media center and in the classroom for much of the month of April on this project. (See attached rubrics.)
Book Annotation Assignment
Select and procure one of the books from the list below. If this book also aligns with the topic for your research project, that is awesome. It is not required, however, that you select a book that deals with the same topic as your research project.
- A World Without Fish—Mark Kurlansky
- Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us—Michael Moss
- In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto—Michael Pollan
- Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals—Michael Pollan
- Bet the Farm: How Food Stopped Being Food—Frederick Kaufman
- Foodopoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America—Wenonah Hauter
- Food Justice (Food, Health, and the Environment)—Robert Gottlieb
- The End of Food: How the Food Industry is Destroying Our Food Supply—And What We Can Do About It—Thomas F. Pawlick
- The Good Food Revolution: Growing Healthy Food, People, and Communities--Will Allen
- The Perfect Protein: The Fish Lover’s Guide to Saving the Oceans and Feeding the World—Andy Sharpless and Suzannah Evans
- Sustainability: A History—Jeremy L. Caradonna
- Fair Food: Growing a Healthy, Sustainable Food System for All—Oran B. Hesterman
Your assignment for the annotated book is pretty simple: read the book and use post-its to annotate (take notes on the book—write questions, insights, parallels, ideas, etc.—kind of like what you did with To Kill a Mockingbird but without the actual double-entry journal). To receive full credit you will need a minimum of 25 post-its with annotations of the text. This assignment will be due on April 26.
Once you have completed your annotation, you will write a constructed response for the following topic: “What is the author’s main argument in this text, and what were the strongest arguments put forth?” This assignment will be due on April 26.
Making Annotations: A User’s Guide
As you work with your text, consider all of the ways that you can connect with what you are reading. Here are some suggestions that will help you with your annotations:
- Define words or slang; make the words real with examples from your experiences; explore why the author would have used a particular word or phrase.
- Make connections to other parts of the book. Feel free to use direct quotes from the book.
- Make connections to other texts you have read or seen, including: movies, comic books/graphic novels, news events, other books, stories, plays, songs, or poems . Draw a picture when a visual connection is appropriate.
- Re-write, paraphrase, or summarize a particularly difficult passage or moment.
- Make meaningful connections to your own life experiences.
- Describe a new perspective you may now have.
- Explain the historical context or traditions/social customs that are used in the passage.
- Offer an analysis or interpretation of what is happening in the text.
- Point out and discuss literary or rhetorical techniques that the author is using.
- Explain the way the author is making a strong argument.
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