Activity 2: My Agricultural Protein Footprint (40 min + sharing) Students compare the amount of plant material needed to produce the animal protein in their or the school diets to the amount of beans needed to get an equivalent amount of protein. Materials You Provide Graph paper (1 per student) Calculators Resources Provided (From Previous Activity) Animals in Our Diets Worksheet (1 per student) Assessing Animals in our Diets Worksheet Setup Students will need to have completed the first two columns of the Animals in Our Diets Worksheet. Directions 1. Students calculate their agricultural protein footprints Students need to have completed columns 1 and 2 of Table 1. Students use Table 2 to calculate the amount of feed/plant material needed to produce the animal protein they consumed or that they found in school meals. They record these in the last column of Table 1. Sample calculations are shown in Assessing Animal proteins in our diet Worksheet. 2. Students make scale drawings of their agricultural protein footprints. Students follow the directions in question 7 – 9 to create a scale drawing of the agricultural protein footprint and an equivalent plant-based diet. Depending on the type of graph paper you have for students, you may choose to change the 1 square = 0.1 lb feed/beans ratio. This ratio works well for standard (not protein heavy) diets and graph paper with large (0.5 inches per side) squares. 3. Students discuss their footprints. Have students answer question 10, then discuss their answers. Possible discussion questions: What changes would you be willing to make to reduce your agricultural protein footprint? (Options include reducing the total amount of animal protein consumed (many Americans eat more protein than what is required for a healthy diet), substituting plant protein for animal protein, eating less of the particular kinds of animal protein with large footprints.) What foods do you like to eat that have smaller footprints? Are those healthy foods (low in sugar and fat)? Assessment Question 1 is the main assessment item. It is an indicator of how well students can apply to a new substance what they learned about cellular respiration from the unit. Students’ answers to question 10 are an indicator of students’ understanding of the tradeoffs of eating animal-based vs plant-based protein. Tips You may choose to model the calculations that students will need to do. Extending the Learning If students are interested and you have time, students can explore how people from around the world get their protein at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/what-the-world-eats/
