As human population increases, our appetite for meat grows but very soon demand will outstrip supply. Farming large animals puts a strain on our natural resources and creates polluting waste. Scientists are proposing eating insects to help solve this problem. In this activity students are asked to plan a menu for the school canteen which contains tasty insect dishes alongside more familiar ones. Can they use persuasive communication, and their knowledge of natural resources, to get students to opt for the insect alternatives?
Learning objective
- Communicate an opinion using evidence, persuasive writing and scientific knowledge of Earth’s natural resources.
Try the activity
Curriculum link
England National Curriculum KS3:
- Spoken language: articulating scientific concepts clearly and precisely
- Chemistry: Earth and atmosphere: Earth as a source of limited resources; the production of carbon dioxide by human activity
GCSE Combined Science subject content:
- Scientific vocabulary, quantities, units, symbols and nomenclature: use scientific vocabulary, terminology and definitions
- Chemistry: Carbon dioxide and methane as greenhouse gases: evaluate the evidence for additional anthropogenic causes of climate change; The Earth’s water resources
Running the activity
Starter The news story is presented: Brussels University canteen sell dishes containing insects
Main Students design their special lunch menus
Plenary Peer assessment of persuasive writing.
For detailed running notes, download the teachers guide.
Weblinks
Lovely grub: are insects the future of food?
A comprehensive article on eating insects for teacher background reading
The FAO report on eating insects
Most of the data in this activity came from this FAO report on edible insects
Why not eat insects? TEDx talk
Professor Marcel Dicke from Wageningen UR makes an appetizing case for adding insects to everyone’s diet.
Eat Grub
Why not offer your students some insects to try? Enter the code ENGAGEwithGRUB at the checkout for a 10% discount.
As human population increases, our appetite for meat grows but very soon demand will outstrip supply. Farming large animals puts a strain on our natural resources and creates polluting waste. Scientists are proposing eating insects to help solve this problem. In this activity students are asked to plan a menu for the school canteen which contains tasty insect dishes alongside more familiar ones. Can they use persuasive communication, and their knowledge of natural resources, to get students to opt for the insect alternatives?
