Lesson Q4 L1 – Food Security in Our Community: Capstone Launch

Lesson Overview

Quarter 4 · Unit 4: Community Science & Engineering Fair · Week 1 · Grades 9–12 · Lesson length: 45 minutes

Essential Question: How can science help our community grow and get healthy food?

Lesson Focus: About 1 in 7 U.S. households were food insecure at some point in 2023. What does that look like near us?

Why It Matters: The capstone connects students’ research skills to a real community need. Understanding food security frames the science or engineering projects they will design this quarter.

Source: Adapted from SSS materials — SSS book Lesson Plan 1 (experiments and food security) and 2024 SSS scope and sequence notes (Q4 community capstone).

Standards & Learning Targets

Standards Alignment

NGSS Performance Expectations (High School, builds toward): HS-ETS1-1 — Analyze a major global challenge to specify qualitative and quantitative criteria and constraints for solutions that account for societal needs and wants.

NGSS Science & Engineering Practices: Asking Questions and Defining Problems. Crosscutting Concepts: Influence of Science, Engineering, and Technology on Society and the Natural World.

ISTE Standards for Students: 1.7 Global Collaborator (1.7d: explore local and global issues and use collaborative technologies to investigate solutions).

Student Learning Targets

Learning Targets — students will be able to

• Define food security and the factors that affect it (availability, access, use, stability).

• Identify local food system challenges.

• Generate questions or problems for a capstone project.

Key Vocabulary

food security · food insecurity · food access · low-access area · food system · capstone

Materials & Teacher Prep

Materials Needed

• Food system map handout
• Data cards (USDA ERS food security estimates; USDA Food Access Research Atlas definitions)
• Chart paper
• Student Workbook page 4.1

Teacher Prep Checklist

• Print data cards.
• Look up your area in the USDA Food Access Research Atlas.

Lesson Flow & Timing

Phase 1 · Engage — The Hook

Teacher Talk

PCM: Curiosity. “In 2023, USDA estimated that about 13.5% of U.S. households — roughly 1 in 7 — were food insecure at some time during the year. What does that number mean for a classroom of 30 students’ families?” Introduce food security briefly now so the discussion stays precise; the formal definition comes in Explain.

Ask Students

“Where does your family get food?” “What makes healthy food hard to get?” “How could a garden help?”

PCM Differentiation

Thinker Students: “If 13.5% of households are food insecure, how many of 200 households is that?” (27)

Harmonizer Students: “Food is personal. How can we talk about food security respectfully?”

Phase 2 · Explore — Kagan Cooperative Activity

Cooperative Structure

Kagan structure: Jot Thoughts. Jot Thoughts fits because teams generate many ideas about the local food system quickly before organizing them. (See the Teaching Reference for the structure’s steps.) Before teams start, introduce the term food system so students can use it accurately; Explain gives the formal definition.

Step-by-Step

• Step 1 — Jot (6 min): Teams jot food system challenges on slips (growing, transporting, buying, cooking, wasting).

• Step 2 — Sort (6 min): Teams sort slips into the four pillars: availability, access, use, stability.

• Step 3 — Prioritize (6 min): Teams star challenges science or engineering could address.

Teacher Moves During Explore

• Keep discussion respectful; avoid personal disclosure.

• Check definitions: USDA low-access tracts are generally more than 1 mile (urban) or 10 miles (rural) from a supermarket.

• Connect to SSS skills.

Phase 3 · Explain — Direct Instruction

Mini-lesson — Food Security Pillars. Teacher move: Write the four food-security pillars (availability, access, use, stability) on the board with one example for each from the Jot Thoughts list; students note them in their notebooks.

• Availability: Enough food produced and supplied.

• Access: People can obtain it (money, distance, transportation).

• Use: Safe, nutritious food and knowledge to prepare it.

• Stability: Reliable over time (droughts, prices, emergencies).

Key Message: Food security depends on availability, access, use, and stability — and science can help at every step.

Check for Understanding — Ask Students

“Name the four pillars.” “What is a low-access area?” “How could a garden help?”

Phase 4 · Elaborate — Student Product & Differentiation

Student Product

Each student writes two capstone questions or problems tied to a pillar.

Differentiation (Grades 9–12)

Scaffolded support: Use the question stems.

Grades 9–12: Argue how resource availability and human activity interact in Arizona’s food system (HS.E1U3.14).

Phase 5 · Evaluate — Closure, Exit Ticket & Assessment

Exit Ticket

1. Define food security.

1. Which pillar interests you most?

1. Write one capstone question.

Answer Key / Look-Fors: Definition, pillar choice, and a question linked to science or engineering.

Expanding Circles

How does this connect to… Self — What foods matter most to your family? • Classroom — What food challenges did we identify? • School — How does our cafeteria source food? • Community — Where are local food banks and markets? • World — How does drought affect global food security?

Formative Assessment

Formative Assessment (sort students by the two capstone questions tied to a food-security pillar and the exit-ticket definition)

• Meets (3): Clear definition and a feasible capstone question.

• Approaching (2): Question vague.

• Not Yet (1): Cannot define — revisit pillars.

Extend & Looking Ahead

• Extension: Visit or research a local food bank or community garden.

• Looking Ahead: Lesson 4.2 chooses science or engineering paths.