Ecosystem

What did you eat last night? Where did that food come from? How did it get there? How did it get prepared and packaged? How did it end up on your table? Homework: Go home tonight and look at where any of the ingredients came from. See if you can find more than 3 sources that were not local. References: Ridiculous Packaging (CCSE) Next Steps (CCSE)

Each year from , food imports have grown by an average of 10 percent, while imports of pharmaceutical products have increased at nearly 13 percent and device imports have grown more than 10 percent. Approximately 50 percent of fresh fruits and 20 percent of fresh vegetables, as well as 80 percent of the seafood consumed in America come from abroad. Similarly, more than 80 percent of the active pharmaceutical ingredients used to make medicines are imported.

Share items from home. Show examples of foods that come from other countries. Mangoes, Pineapples, Bananas, Persimmons are almost exclusively grown overseas. Show examples of packaging, discuss refrigeration and packing and shipping. (Ridiculous Packaging) Talk about impact of locally grown produce, or locally produced products (jobs, money, infrastructure, etc)

Food Miles, by the NRDC hub.org/files/resources/Fo od%20Miles.pdf hub.org/files/resources/Fo od%20Miles.pdf Today, the typical American prepared meal contains, ingredients from at least five countries outside the United States. Imports by airplane have a substantial impact on global warming pollution. In 2005, the import of fruits, nuts, and vegetables into California by airplane released more than 70,000 tons of CO2, which is equivalent to more than 12,000 cars on the road.

Share idea of growing produce in a energy efficient, recyclable manner Introduce materials for creating recycled newspaper 'pots' that they can plant at school or at home. ated ated

1.Take a large sheet of newspaper and fold it in half and use your smooth edge to crease the fold 2.Fold across in half and then in half again, running the smooth edge over the crease. Turn so open edge is facing you. 3.Open to center of pages and fold edges down into a triangle 4.Fold in the edges to the center crease, like a paper airplane. 5.Fold in again towards the middle, smoothing the creases. 6.Spin the paper and repeat on other side 7.Flip paper over and fold to the center crease, and fold again towards the middle, smoothing creases as you go. 8.Fold down the top edges to the crease 9.Open the plant pot and fold the flaps at the top edge to the inside or the outside.

Plant vegetables that can be locally grown in the containers. Liz’s story

Seed Folks, by Paul Fleischman A diverse community in Cleveland, OH Community Growth Morale Community support

Prepare an area in the schoolyard for a garden while the plants sprout. Once the plants sprout plant them in the garden

Build rain barrels You remember how…

Do a celebratory rain dance How To A Rain Dance 1. Never do a rain dance on a hill. 2. Make sure you have a lot of room so you don't run into anything. 3. Spin around in clockwise circles. 4. Make up your own rain chant. It should be rythmical and easy to say fast. 5. Yell your rain chant while spinning around in circles. 6. If you are trying to get rid of rain, spin in counterclockwise circles and say your chant backwards. Links to: History and Culture of Rain Dances Expert Page Native American Rain Dances History and Culture of Rain Dances Expert Page Native American Rain Dances