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Description
Human populations continue to expand, consequently so does the demand for food. Agriculture requires huge volumes of water for crop irrigation, animal hydration and processing of food products. Unfortunately, agricultural impacts on ecosystems also threaten pollinating insects like Monarch butterflies that are essential to growing the grains, fruits and vegetables we need. As one of the activities from the “Teaching Tools about Monarchs” series, this lesson introduces students to the connections between increased food production, increased water consumption and habitat impacts. As they examine the amounts of water needed to make popular lunch items students will:
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Represent their data using a pictograph.
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Describe how water is used to produce their lunch through each supply chain stage.
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Analyze how agricultural water use impacts habitats.
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Develop personal strategies to reduce their own ecological footprint.
General Assessment
Recommendation of how and where to use it
This resource can be used to support Grade 3-6 mathematics learning related to analyzing statistics, graphing and working with whole numbers. Students use multiplication and division to calculate water totals of food items and complete charts. Science concepts connected to natural resource use and environmental impacts are also a key topic. Learners have the opportunity to describe how agricultural water consumption can cause habitat degradation while discussing sustainable farming practices that could reduce damage and maximize food production. Partnering this activity with the “Eating Our Planet” activity would provide a comprehensive unit on the topic of food waste and the role of personal stewardship in conservation.
Monarch butterflies depend on Milkweed for reproduction. A class could research and grow Milkweed plants that are best suited to their region. The plants could be distributed around the community and planted in areas like municipal flower beds and community gardens. Monitoring the presence of Monarchs that are found on the plants could be used to raise awareness of the value of providing Monarch habitat in gardens. If students are fortunate enough to find a “tagged” Monarch they can report their finding through the Monarch Watch website to learn about where the individual has travelled from.
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Themes Addressed
Citizenship (1)
- Sustainable Consumption
Ecosystems (2)
- Biodiversity
- Habitat Loss
Food & Agriculture (1)
- Conventional Farming
