World Food Day 2009

Every year, teachers and students at Ambrit take part in activities to raise awareness of  World Food Day's yearly theme and the overall plight of feeding the world’s hungry. This year's theme was:

Achieving Food Security in Times of Crisis

Nursery - Nursery 1 & 2 made vegetable soup. Each child brought in a vegetable and worked together to make soup; they then shared the soup for lunch. One of the aims of the activity was to promote an understanding of sharing and working together when in need. If everybody works and gives in a small way a crisis can be overcome. Click here for pictures.

Kinder - The children read a book entitled Little and the Big Red Apple written by A. H. Benjamin on the theme of sharing food with others.
  

Prep - Prep students learned that farms are the main source of food in our world. They found out how food is made and how it is produced and that simple foods give us energy, so that our bodies can move and grow. Prep C and Prep M visited the farm, Agricoltura Nuova, and saw how bread is made. They saw the process of breadmaking from grain to flour to making bread. They also participated in making cheese; They visited animals and fields where vegetables are grown. They saw the food products being sold in the farm’s own store. On World Food Day, they had a display of photographs from their trip.

Grade 1 - Grade 1 students read the story Miguel's tomatoes, which is a story about food production. They then did some activities which highlighted the steps involved in the food system: Getting ready to grow food, growing the food, moving food from the field, processing, selling, or storing the food and preparing and eating the food.

Grade 2 - Grade 2 students had a special guest from FAO and together they found out how much water is needed to produce food. They participated in an experiment, watched a video and made badges. The badges reflected what they will do and how they will try to save water.

Grade 3 - Grade 3 students made posters that were entered in the WFD competition. They also wrote a short piece of writing on the ideas behind each of their posters. They took a tour around each class 'exhibit' in the corridor and presented their pieces of writing in their classrooms during the afternoon. 

Grade 4 - Grade 4 students continued to work on their water unit. They created infomercials to persuade people to use water responsibly. The infomercials were shown on a monitor in the atrium. The students are learning how water is essential to us and how the effects of difficult water conditions may impact on food security.

Grade 5 - Grade 5 students attended a presentation given by one of our parents who works for the World Food Program. They also got to experience the WFP aid biscuits.

Grade 6 Science - In science the students explored: What are staple foods, where are they grown and how do they compare in nutritional value? One aspect of food security is ensuring a continued supply of staple foods. Students made a poster to provide information on one staple food and a map showing in which parts of the world this staple food is grown and eaten, the food itself and some dishes based on this food. They also explored and compared the nutritional value of each.

Grade 7 - The students worked on interpreting and illustrating Pablo Neruda's poem, "The Great Tablecloth". They also viewed several videos by Oxfam & Transfair USA that examine the successful results of the Fair Trade movement, Organic Farming and Farming Cooperative in providing independence and access to markets for the small farmers especially for coffee and cocoa growers.

Grade 8 Language Arts - Our first semester theme is 'Pastures of Plenty' and we are learning some Woody Guthrie songs (Pastures of Plenty among others). The literature we are studying is set in the 1930's during the Great Depression, e.g. the screenplay of The Grapes of Wrath and the novel Of Mice and Men (and more), which deal with the dramatic effects of famine and poverty caused partly by ecological and economic mismanagement.

Grade 8 Social Studies - Grade 8 Social Studies students worked on a project on the challenges of climate change. They made a short film, animated cartoon, 3-D models, game board & powerpoints. At the end of their activities, they will be visiting elementary classes to share the projects.

Grade 8 Italian - The students led an inquiry into how the food arrives on our table, entitled What do we eat? They created videos about the quality, origin and characteristics of our food, food waste and risks and other useful tips. The videos were shown on World Food Day in the Atrium. Click here to watch one.