ALCA Members PLC Domains Data Standards Map Plan Curriculum Assessment Strategies

How Much School Lunch Do You Dump? Copy

Get up to your elbows in dumped lunch.  In this activity the students will collect and measure the wasted lunch for their grade during one week.  They will find the average number of ounces wasted by each student and compare this with classes in other communities.  How does your school lunch rate?

Engaging Questions

  • How did you find the average?

  • What food was the least wasted food in your lunchroom?

  • What metric units did you use to measure the food waste?

  • What food was the most wasted food in your lunchroom?

  • What standard units did you use to measure the food waste?

Teacher Goals

  • Comparing Results - The students will compare results with students from other communities by making a bar graph of the results.

  • Collecting and Measuring - Students will collect and measure in ounces, pounds, grams and kilograms their class lunch waste for one week.

  • Averaging - Students will calculate the average amount of food wasted per student in their class.

  • Recording - Students will record the number of students in their class eating school lunch per day for a week and the the amount of food wasted per day by their class.

Required Resources

  • Materials each team will need:

     

    • disposable plastic gloves, plastic apron and safety goggles (for each team member)
    • recording sheet, pencil
    • standard weight scale (ounces and pounds)
    • metric weight scale (grams and kilograms)
    • plastic trash bag (solid food waste)
    • plastic bucket (liquid food waste)

  • How Does Your School Lunch Compare?

  • Cooperative Group Measuring Lunch Waste Rubric

Steps

  1. Collecting and Measuring Lunch Waste

    1. With your assigned group, you will follow the following directions on your assigned day. There will be a different group for each day of the week.
    2. Your group should set up a scale to weigh the amount of wasted food.
    3. Measure the weight of the plates used in your school. To get an accurate measurement, measure five plates and then divide by five to get the weight of one plate.
    4. After each student is through eating, your group should either measure directly or have the student themselves measure their plate to get the total mass of the waste and plate before placing into the trash.
    5. Record the weight along with their grade.
    6. Subtract the known weight of a plate from the total mass and this will give you the mass of the waste only.
    7. Repeat the same procedure for the liquid waste, finding the mass of the milk cartons and the total mass of the wasted milk.

  2. Recording

    Record the solid waste and liquid waste measurements. Record the number of 4th graders eating school lunch that day by using the tally marks made by your group member. Tie the food waste bag shut and dispose of it and the liquid waste in the way the lunchroom workers desire.

  3. Averaging

    Find the average amount of food wasted per student. To find the average do the following: divide the amount of waste by the number of students. Record your results.

  4. Comparing Waste Amounts

    When the entire week's data have been collected, use the daily averages to figure the weekly average.

    To find the weekly average do the following:

    1. Add the daily averages of Monday through Friday. Remember to figure both standard and metric units.
    2. Divide this sum by the number of days (which will be five).
    3. With your classmates, enter this information in the Data Entry to compare our school lunch waste with schools in other locations.

Teacher Notes

  • Making student aprons from 13-gallon size trash bags works well. Assign students to make five teams, one for each day of the week. Assign jobs to group members. One will need to be team recorder and the others will collect, measure, and dispose of lunch waste.

  • This activity will take five lunch periods for collection, recording and measuring waste. (A different group of students will measure waste each day.) Finding the total amount of food waste and averaging the amount of food waste per student will take 25 minutes. Comparing data will take 20 minutes.

Learner Notes

  • Learn to think metric as well as standard measurements. It is easy to do:

    1. Think about a gram as how much a dollar bill weighs.
    2. Think about a kilogram as how much your math book weighs.

    Abbreviations to use:

    • ounce oz
    • pound lb
    • gram g
    • kilogram kg

Mentor Notes

  • This activity could be adapted to measure the average amount of food waste per family member for a week.

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