Make a Food Diary
The food (and drinks) consumed each day is students' most immediate relationship with energy. It's all around us, and it's inside us, and knowing how much energy we eat is one small part of the overall energy consumption.
Read MoreMake a Daily Menu
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) uses a recommended daily value of 2000 Calories (kcal) across all food labels. From this number and some handy math, manufacturers print the percentage of the daily value of each nutrient provided by the food. However, the 2000 Calorie diet is only a simple benchmark for food standards and labeling, and not always appropriate for every lifestyle, health condition, and individual.
Read MoreLooking at Food Labels
In 2016, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) updated the requirements for food labels leaving manufacturers several years to comply. As a result there may be two different food labels on the products around classrooms, lunchrooms, and homes. Both labels have the same information about food, but the format differs slightly.
Read MoreEnergy Density of Foods
The simplest way to think about the relationship between energy and food is to recognize that food is a form of energy. Food stores chemical energy that bodies convert into kinetic energy to activate muscle power.
Read MoreTexas's Food Deserts
Students should be able to identify that irrespective of differences in tract size, the Desert Southwest has a higher percentage of food deserts than the Northeast. Similarly, the Deep South and Southeast has a higher proportion of food deserts than the Upper Midwest.
Read MoreFood Desert Maps
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines food deserts as areas of the country without any fresh fruit, vegetables, or other whole foods. For the past several decades, the middle class migrated to the suburbs from city centers taking their grocery stores with them, leaving only convenience stores.
Read MoreWorking Through Food Deserts
Students should also create a detailed map of food resources in their area, classified by type and annotated with accessibility and time constraints. Then, they should evaluate whether their neighborhood or district is a food desert. How does the students' map compare with the Food Access Research Atlas?
Read MoreCareers in Chemistry
Leveraging the Minecraft: Education Edition produced by Microsoft, Careers in Chemistry is a new game-based experience aimed at showcasing chemistry-related career opportunities to high school students. The program features chemistry professor and science entertainer Dr. Kate Biberdorf of the University of Texas at Austin.
Read MoreIntegrating “Energy 101”
If you're looking for a resource related to complex, multidisciplinary issues in the energy sector, look no further than Energy 101: Energy Technology & Policy.
Read MoreUgly Produce
Grocery stores don’t think the ugly produce sells, so they don’t buy it, meaning farmers have to get rid of it. Approximately 20% of all U.S. produce never enters the market but ends up left in the field or transported to landfills.
Read MoreFood Container Waste
Some of the containers for pre-packaged food are made of plastic that cannot be recycled and only end up in a landfill. So what can you do to reduce your plastic waste?
Read MoreWhat’s in My Lunch?
Students bring their lunch to school for lots of reasons, dislike of school food, special diet, to fit in with other kids, etc. Many times at home, parents have the greatest of intentions when making or purchasing the food that goes into those lunches.
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