To thrive in the 21st (and 22nd) Century, students will need to solve many “grand challenges” ranging from global climate change to local food security. Turning these complex topics into effective learning experiences is daunting at best. How can educators design project-based units and courses that make content accessible and relevant--while also meeting standards?

I have long used story as a powerful metaphor for designing instruction. As I describe in my book, Reframing the Curriculum, learning unfolds as a story about real world issues. In the narrative, learners (and other stakeholders) are characters, communities are the setting, and interdisciplinary topics form multiple plot lines. Learners move through the story through a process of engagement, inquiry, decision-making, and action. Through this process, students discover what’s at stake and gain the skills to become “authors” of positive solutions.

Looking ahead to in-person instruction, here’s how an upper elementary unit on food and health might unfold: 

Stage 1: The story begins

Opening lessons situate learners in the plot and setting. Sample lessons:

• Through interviews and journaling, students identify foods they eat, like, and have access to. (This opens up questions about food security and social justice.)

• Students assess the foods they eat based on health and nutritional value.

• Students use poetry and creative writing to express the food traditions important to their families and cultures.

The writing, discussion, and speaking and listening skills developed in these activities meet multiple Common Core standards. (Assessment strategies are not detailed here).

Stage 2: The plot thickens

Students are now ready to dive deeper into the scientific, economic, and geographic “subplots” of the food system. Examples:

• Students tour their neighborhood to map and assess elements of the local food system, i.e., places where food is grown, produced, processed, sold/bartered/shared, etc.

• Using the data this data, students use math skills to create graphs, measure distances to stores to assess walkability, or identify the number of restaurants per capita.

• Students create a timeline to uncover how an everyday food item is produced. Through close reading, mapping, and math, students trace the steps from growth to disposal. This activity integrates geological time, sequencing, materials use, energy transformations, labor issues, and the impacts of resource and energy use.

 Stage 3 ) Shift the plot towards solutions

With a deeper understanding of the food system and its implications, students are at the crossroad and must now consider possible solutions—“endings” to the story that may even spark a new investigation. Students can find ways improve access to healthy food in different ways: By starting a school (or classroom) garden, or investigating if local zoning codes enable community gardens. In communities where food options are limited to gas stations or “party stores” (as we call them in Michigan), students could work with shop owners to identify ways to offer healthier foods.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Find more ideas in the Facilitator Guide for my book. It’s free!