Poultry Farms

Objective: For students to explore the current environmental issues in Ontario, Canada and around the world.

 

Materials Needed:

• Student activity sheets (provided below)

• Computers, phones, tablets, etc.

• Teacher resource (provided)

 

Time Needed:

• Approximately 1 class period

 

Prep:

• Complete one of the following lessons:

  • ​Geography: A. Physical Patterns in a Changing World

  • Geography: B. Natural Resources around the World: Use and Sustainability

  • Science: A. Understanding Structures and Mechanisms

  • Science: B. Understanding Matter and Energy

• Book computer lab, computer carts, etc.

• Print off student activity sheets (1 per person)

 

Guiding Questions:

• Why do different people have different responses to the environment and the opportunities and challenges it presents?

• Why do we need to consider various perspectives when determining the impact of human activities?

• Why would people continue to use methods that contribute to destroying our environment when there are more environmentally safer ways?

• Why is it important for companies to find out what consumers want now and what they might want and/or need in the future?

• What would be the impact on depleted fisheries in a developing nation versus Canada?

 

Execution:

• Organize students into groups of 3 to 4

• Hand out student activity sheets

• Have students use the provided websites to access the information

• Once students are complete teh activity sheet, discuss as a class, or have them hand in (answers are provided for you in the teacher resource, please note, students do not have to  answer word for word, as long as they have the general idea)

 

Integrated Expectations across subject matters:

Language: Reading

• Read and demonstrate an understanding of informational texts using a range of strategies to construct meaning.

Language: Media Literacy

• Use overt and implied messages to draw inferences and construct meaning in media texts;

• Identify whose point of view is presented or reflected in a media text, citing supporting evidence from the text, and suggest how the text might change if a different point of view were used.

Science

• Analyze the effects of human activities on habitats and communities.

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Resources used:

Videos

Roost, C. (2019, June 4). What Sustainability means to Chicken Farmers. Retrieved January 19, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H_VGdHqg-s

 

V. (Director). (2020, August 18). The next pandemic could come from our farms [Video file]. Retrieved January 19, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwuujiHvduc

 

Newspaper Articles

Fromm, J. (2021, January 12). Flavorful Sustainability: On The Reinvention Of The Egg And Why It Matters Now. Retrieved January 19, 2021, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jefffromm/2021/01/12/flavorful-sustainability-on-the-reinvention-of-the-egg-and-why-it-matters-now/?sh=468453372f62

 

Garces, L. (2019, December 04). Replacing beef with chicken isn't as good for the planet as you think. Retrieved January 19, 2021, from https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/12/4/20993654/chicken-beef-climate-environment-factory-farms

 

Leahy, S. (2019, June 10). Choosing chicken over beef cuts our carbon footprints a surprising amount. Retrieved January 19, 2021, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/06/choosing-chicken-over-beef-cuts-carbon-footprint-surprising-amount/

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Websites:

Block, K. (2020, December 15). In 2020, we dismantled more cruel cages on factory farms and set new records for egg-laying hens. Retrieved January 19, 2021, from https://blog.humanesociety.org/2020/12/in-2020-we-dismantled-more-cruel-cages-on-factory-farms-and-set-new-records-for-egg-laying-hens.html

 

Blue, M. (2019, March 02). Ecological Impact of Chicken Farming. Retrieved January 19, 2021, from https://sciencing.com/ecological-impact-chicken-farming-5005.html

 

Woolley, J. (2019, December 20). Is eating chicken really better for the environment than eating beef? Retrieved January 19, 2021, from https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/is-eating-chicken-better-for-the-environment-than-beef/