Lesson 1:

INTRODUCTION TO DATA COLLECTION THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF FOOD TRANSPORT

Mathematics & Religion

Lesson title: Introduction to Data Collection & THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF FOOD TRANSPORT

Summary & Background Information:

In this lesson, students will be introduced to a variety of different ways to graph data sets. Students will learn about what to consider in order to select an appropriate graphical representation of data sets. They will be introduced to Statistics Canada, our country's national data collection office and how the agency ensures Canadians have the key information on Canada's economy, society and environment. Students will also begin to explore how far the foods we eat travel to get to our plate and understand how collecting and interpreting data can provide humans with important information about our environment. Students will learn that environmental issues impact all of us and as Catholics, we are called to care for the Earth and advocate for change in current practices.

Curriculum Links:

Math

Grade 3:

A1.4 build relationships and communicate effectively

A1.6 think critically and creatively

C1.1 identify and describe repeating elements and operations in a variety of patterns, including patterns found in real-life contexts

C1.2 create and translate repeating and growing patterns using various representations, including tables of values and graphs

D1.3 display sets of data, using many-to-one correspondence, in pictographs and bar graphs with proper sources, titles, and labels, and appropriate scales

D1.5 analyse different sets of data presented in various ways, including in frequency tables and in graphs with different scales, by asking and answering questions about the data and drawing conclusions, then make convincing arguments and informed decisions

Grade 4:

A1.4 build relationships and communicate effectively

A1.6 think critically and creatively

C1.1 identify and describe repeating and growing patterns, including patterns found in real-life contexts

D1.1 describe the difference between qualitative and quantitative data, and describe situations where each would be used

D1.3 select from among a variety of graphs, including multiple-bar graphs, the type of graph best suited to represent various sets of data; display the data in the graphs with proper sources, titles, and labels, and appropriate scales; and justify their choice of graphs

D1.6 analyse different sets of data presented in various ways, including in stem-and-leaf plots and multiple-bar graphs, by asking and answering questions about the data and drawing conclusions, then make convincing arguments and informed decisions

Grade 5:

A1.4 build relationships and communicate effectively

A1.6 think critically and creatively

C1.1 identify and describe repeating, growing, and shrinking patterns, including patterns found in real-life contexts

D1.3 select from among a variety of graphs, including stacked-bar graphs, the type of graph best suited to represent various sets of data; display the data in the graphs with proper sources, titles, and labels, and appropriate scales; and justify their choice of graphs

D1.6 analyse different sets of data presented in various ways, including in stacked-bar graphs and in misleading graphs, by asking and answering questions about the data, challenging preconceived notions, and drawing conclusions, then make convincing arguments and informed decisions

Religious Education

Grade 3:

BL3.3: Identify the responsibilities a person takes on when they agree to participate in a mission

ML1.1: Retell Gospel narratives that demonstrate the importance of fulfilling God’s law of love

LS1.2: Link the concept of Christian community inspired by the Holy Spirit (communion with God and one another) with the need to be truthful, to act justly, and to be motivated by love in our relationships with others; and describe the characteristics of a school or family that modeled Christian communion.

LS2.1: Reflect on Genesis 1-3 in the Hebrew Scriptures and identify why the creation of human beings is unique

Grade 4:

BL3.3: Through an examination of Sacred Scripture and Church teaching explain why the Church professes to be “One”.

ML2.4: Identify times when we might hear God speaking to us; giving us instructions (moral truth) to help us “do what is good and avoid what is evil”; and link this to the work of our conscience through which God/the Holy Spirit inspires us to do the good.

LS2.3: Identify and describe ways we are called as human beings to be responsible stewards who protect the environment and promote creation.

Grade 5:

BL3.1: Examine the Parable of the Rich Young Man to identify what it means to strive for a life of holiness

ML3.1: Identify and examine a selection of biblical passages to unfold what God revealed about the responsibility of individuals and social institutions to care for the poor and the sick, to be just in what they do.

LS2.3: Apply the principle of solidarity to global and/or local issues of injustice and describe ways that students can become involved in projects of “social charity”.

Catholic Graduate Expectations:

3. REFLECTIVE, CREATIVE AND HOLISTIC THINKER who solves problems and makes responsible decisions with an informed moral conscience for the common good.

5. A COLLABORATIVE CONTRIBUTOR who finds meaning and dignity and vocation in work which respects the rights of all and contributes to the common good.

7. A RESPONSIBLE CITIZEN who gives witness to Catholic social teaching by promoting peace, justice and the sacredness of human life.

Guiding Questions:

What is data?
What are the various ways data can be represented?
How does measurement data inform us about issues with our food production?
What is the impact of food production and shipping on the environment?
How does the data support the need for change?
What goals can be developed based on data collection?
How can data motivate a call to action?
How can we use statistics and/or data to help us make informed and ethical choices?
What predictions can be made from studying past and present data?
How can we use data to make informed decisions about what we buy and/or consume?
How can the Gospels or Catholic Social Teaching help make us become and/or inspire us to be stewards of the earth?
As Catholic Christians, how can we make a positive contribution to society and the world?
How can we work for the common good of all people and be the change we want to see?

Learning Goals:

By the end of this unit, students will be able to:

understand, apply and communicate information from data sets.
represent data in various ways.
understand how data is used to assess the effects of environmental issues.
understand that humans are responsible for most environmental issues.
see how data supports the need for urgent action.
use data to make predictions about how environmental issues will evolve.
use data to make informed decisions about what they buy and consume.
connect Gospel and Catholic Social Teaching to their call to be stewards of the earth.
develop attitudes and values founded on the principles of Catholic Social Teaching and act to promote social responsibility, human solidarity and the common good.
become models of Christian living for all those we encounter in our daily lives.

Success Criteria:

I can…

compare, contrast, interpret information from data sets.
represent data in various ways.
examine and explain how data is used to assess the effects of environmental issues.
identify the human impacts on the environment using data sets.
use data to support the need for urgent action.
use data to make predictions about how environmental issues will evolve.
use data to make informed decisions about what I buy and/or consume.
use Gospel and Catholic Social Teachings to my call to be a steward of the earth.
develop attitudes and values founded on the principles of Catholic Social Teaching and act to promote social responsibility, human solidarity and the common good.

Activities

Part A: Minds On - fOOD travel (Approx. 15 Min)

Vocabulary:

Advocate is to speak, write or stand up for something or someone.

Bar graph is a graph consisting of horizontal or vertical bars of equal width that represent the frequency of an event or outcome. There are gaps between the bars to reflect the discrete nature of the data. (Ontario Elementary Mathematics (2020) Glossary)

Food Kilometres is the distance food is transported from the time of its making until it reaches the consumer. Food (miles) kilometres are one factor used when testing the environmental impact of food and the amount of greenhouse gas emissions created.

Catholic Social Teaching is the body of Church doctrine that describes how Catholics are called to transform the world by proclaiming and living the Gospel.

Climate Change is a change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels.

Data are facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis.

Decreasing pattern is a pattern that involves a regression (e.g., a decrease in the number of elements) from term to term (e.g., AAAA, AAA, AA, A). (Ontario Elementary Mathematics (2020) Glossary)

Greenhouse Effect is a process that occurs when gases in Earth's atmosphere trap the Sun's heat.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions are the emissions of any of various gases, especially carbon dioxide, into the earth's atmosphere that contribute to the greenhouse effect.

Increasing pattern is a pattern that involves an increase (growing) from term to term (e.g., AB, AABB, AAABBB). A growing pattern that has a constant increase from term to term, such as 3, 7, 11, 15, … , is an example of a linear growing pattern. A growing pattern that does not have a constant increase from term to term, such as 3, 6, 12, 21, … is an example of a non-linear growing pattern. (Ontario Elementary Mathematics (2020) Glossary)

Justify means to show or prove that something is reasonable or necessary.

Laudato Si' is translated from Latin and means Praise Be to You. It is the second encyclical of Pope Francis. The encyclical has the subtitle "on care for our common home."In it, the Pope critiques consumerism and irresponsible development. He also laments environmental degradation and global warming, and calls all people of the world to take "swift and unified global action."

Line graph is used to track changes over short and long periods of time. When smaller changes exist, line graphs are better to use than bar graphs. Line graphs can also be used to compare changes over the same period of time for more than one group.

Pictograph is a graph that uses pictures or symbols to represent one or more data values. (Ontario Elementary Mathematics (2020) Glossary)

Pie chart (Circle Graph) is a graph in which a circle is used to display data, through the division of the circle proportionally to represent each category. Also called a pie chart or circular diagram. (Ontario Elementary Mathematics (2020) Glossary)

Represent means to show something visually; to set forth in words, pictures or diagrams and/or to state or explain.

Stacked-Bar Graph is a graph that combines two or more bar graphs to proportionally compare two or more aspects of the data in related contexts. (Ontario Elementary Mathematics (2020) Glossary)

Trend is a general direction in which something is developing or changing.

In a whole group, survey the students: "What is your favourite meal? Why is it your favourite? Allow time for students to discuss this question. (keep a tally of students' responses on the white/chalkboard, chart paper or digital platform)
Ask students: "Besides someone cooking the meal in your home, do you know how that food made it to your plate? Allow time for students to discuss this question and prompt if needed (i.e., farmers, truck drivers, pilots, grocers, restaurants, etc.)
Explain to students that there are many people involved in getting the food we eat to our plates. Watch the video "How Far Did Your Food Travel to You Today?" To get a better idea of how far our food travels.

part B: action - Graphing For Change (approx. 30 Mins)

Explain to students that data is a collection of facts, such as numbers, words, measurements, observations or just descriptions of things. Data can be qualitative or quantitative (explain the difference to students - see vocabulary above).
Let students know that often data is represented in a graph and there are many types of graphs to use when displaying data.
Watch one or both videos, "Graphs for Kids - Learn all about Basic Graphs" by Learn Bright and/or "Types of Graphs and When to Use Them" from MooMooMath and Science . (*NOTE: These videos originate in the United States and some graphs include imperial system measurements. Be sure to let students know that we use metric measurements and offer different measurement options for students).
Return to the survey data collected at the beginning of class and ask students: “Which type of graph would be the most appropriate to display our class data on what is your favourite meal?” Have students justify their choice.
As a class, create a graph using the class survey data. Make sure to use the conventions appropriate to the type of graph chosen, eg: an appropriate scale, x and y axis, titles, labels, etc.
Let students know that we have a national office that collects data, called Statistics Canada. The agency ensures Canadians have the key information on Canada's economy, society, and environment, which are required to help us function effectively as citizens and decision-makers. Watch the video for more information about Statistics Canada.
Introduce students to the 2021 Statistics Canada data on the top 10 sources of Canada's fruit imports and read over with students. (*NOTE: since the range of numbers are much higher than students are expected to deal with in grades 3 - 5, assist students with reading and representing this data on the top 10 sources of fruit imports to Canada)
As a whole group, calculate the increase or decrease of imports from 2016 to 2020, by creating a class graph. Ask students which graph would they choose to represent this information.
Invite students to justify their choice of graph (why was this the best way to display the data?).
Have groups analyze the graph and present their findings (i.e. notice patterns, similarities and/or differences between the data, identify trends, and make predictions).
Discuss with the class any concerns that importing fruits may cause (i.e. cost, the amount of travel and energy it takes to get the food to Canada, use of fossil fuels to import etc.).
Explain to the class that “Food Kilometres” is a measure of the distance that food travels from the farm to your plate. Imported food travels long distances, using a tremendous amount of fossil fuels and creating a tremendous amount of greenhouse gas emissions along the way. By eating food that is grown closer to home, you can cut down thousands of food kilometres and as a result, help to reduce climate change. Watch the video "What is the Greenhouse Effect" from NASA, Climate Kids to give students a greater understanding of this topic.

part c: consolidation - Catholic Connection (approx. 15 min)

Say: "Food Kilometres can add to greenhouse gasses being emitted into our atmosphere. The increase of gasses leads to climate change and the increase in temperature on earth. Our faith calls each and every one of us to take care of the earth (i.e. to be stewards of creation)."
Read the following excerpt from the encyclical (i.e. letter) Laudato Si' and discuss its meaning with the class:

“The climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all. At the global level, it is a complex system linked to many of the essential conditions for human life...Humanity is called to recognize the need for changes of lifestyle, production and consumption, in order to combat this warming or at least the human causes which produce or aggravate it. It is true that there are other factors (such as volcanic activity, variations in the earth’s orbit and axis, the solar cycle), yet a number of scientific studies indicate that most global warming in recent decades is due to the great concentration of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxides and others) released mainly as a result of human activity.”

(LS, no. 23)

Students may want to watch an animated video about the encyclical by CAFOD for more information.
Say: “Have you heard of Catholic Social Teaching?" Give time for students to discuss, if they are unsure, offer the definition found in the Vocabulary section. Explain, "care for the earth is not just an Earth Day slogan, it is a requirement of our faith. We are called to protect people and the planet, living our faith in relationship with all of God's creation. This is called Stewardship. This environmental challenge has fundamental moral and ethical dimensions that cannot be ignored.”
As a class, brainstorm and generate a list of ways we can care for the earth by what we choose to eat. What are some ways we can advocate on behalf of local farmers and buying/consuming foods from no more than 100 km away (i.e., creating awareness through shopping with family and asking them to choose local foods only, only buying fruits and vegetables that are currently in season or grown in local greenhouses etc.)?
Keep this list as we will add to it and refer back to it over the next few lessons.

INFORMATION FOR EDUCATORS: FAITH FORMATION AND USE OF THE ONTARIO CATHOLIC GRADUATE EXPECTATIONS IN BECOMING STEWARDS OF THE EARTH

As educators in a Catholic School we have a mission and mandate of the Roman Catholic Church to address the development of the whole person, incorporating elements of faith into the education of our students. This is accomplished through the Religious Education Curriculum along with the Ontario Catholic Graduate Expectations (OCSGEs). They serve as a critical tool in giving students a goal to not only learn, but to gain meaning and purpose in their lives

The OCSGEs are used in conjunction with Ontario Curriculum to develop students' minds, bodies and spirits. Serving as a critical tool in student learning, providing goals to gain knowledge, meaning and purpose in their lives. The OCSGEs tied to this lesson are:

3. REFLECTIVE, CREATIVE AND HOLISTIC THINKER who solves problems and makes responsible decisions with an informed moral conscience for the common good.

b. Creates, adapts and evaluates new ideas in light of the common good.

c. Thinks reflectively and creatively to evaluate situations and solve problems.

5. A COLLABORATIVE CONTRIBUTOR who finds meaning and dignity and vocation in work which respects the rights of all and contributes to the common good.

a. Works effectively as an interdependent team member.

f. Exercises Christian leadership in the achievement of individual and group goals

7. A RESPONSIBLE CITIZEN who gives witness to Catholic social teaching by promoting peace, justice and the sacredness of human life.

d. Promotes the sacredness of life.

We can use these expectations to provide students a vision and tool for faith development, use these examples to guide students in making a Catholic connection to all we learn and do.

part D: extension (Approx. 10 min)

Have students create an advertisement or infographic (i.e. social media ad, print ad, announcement, poster) that spreads awareness about the impacts of food production and transportation of foods around the world. As an added extension, have students include details from Laudato Si' and/or the Catholic Church's stance on the environmental effects of food production/transportation.
Have students research one Catholic environmental organization or group and create an informational brochure, poster or presentation to share (e.g. U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops: The Environment, Catholic Climate Covenant, Global Catholic Climate Movement, Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Conservation Center, Catholic Rural Life).
Have students read about how new calculations measure the impact of food miles (kilometres) as greater than previously thought in the article "Climate impact of food miles three times greater than previously believed, study finds".
Encourage students to find ways to become climate advocates (e.g. In the TED Talk video "If you adults won't save the world, we will," Xiye Bastida reflects on what led her to become a leading voice for global climate activism - from mobilizing school climate strikes to speaking at the United Nations Climate Summit alongside Greta Thunberg.)

Lesson Resources

"Types of Graphs and when to use them," MooMooMath and Science: Video

"Graphs for Kids - Learn all about Basic Graphs," Learn Bright: Video

"We are Statistics Canada," Statistics Canada: Video

"Top 10 Sources of Canadian Fruit Imports, Statistics Canada: Link

Pope Francis, On Care for Our Common Home [Laudato Si'],nos. 23: Link

"Laudato Si' Animation" CAFOD: Video

Institute for Catholic Education, Catholic Graduate Expectations: Link

"Climate Impact of Food Miles Three Times Greater...," The Guardian: Link

"If you adults won't save the world, we will," TED Talk: Video

Mathematics & Religion

2. Framing the Problem - Ecological Footprint

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