Kurn Hattin School

Jaclyn Schermer and Ashley Robarge

The environmental impacts on food cycle
Presentation Length: approx. 40-45 minutes
Intro:
Names, KSC Intern
Reminder to be respectful and participate while we are here.

Review of What we talked about last week:

Review the food cycle
producers : plants, soil, water, sunshine
Consumers: herbivore, carnivore, and herbivore
Decomposers: help put minerals back in the soil
We are all linked to plants!
Review of Erosion
o Glacers, eather, eroding mineral-containing rock
Create mineral-rich soil
o Weather, flooding, run-off eroding soil
Plant roots help to hold the soil ( mature plants)
o Can anyone remember what is in the New England area that was
evidence that a glacier was present?
Connecticut river
Objectives:

Explain the interconnection between human activity and its environmental impacts
Demonstrate the relationship between greenhouse gases and global warming
Describe 3 methods of resource conservation

Ice Breaker:

Review of last weeks homework question

Since we now know how we benefit from the mineral rich soils created by events which
happened millions of years ago, what does this mean about our actions and treatment of
the environment today. Describe.

Begin activity that will be referred to the entire class period:

We have two soda bottles
o One has parts cut out for ventilation and one doesnt have any holes
o There are two thermometers places inside the soda bottles
o A lamp is placed on top of the soda bottles
o What assumptions do you think will happen with each of the bottles? And why do
you think that.

o
o

Have the class write down the temperature and the start and every 15 minutes
during the class.
This activity is to show green house gases. The bottle that doesnt have
ventilation reflects the earth and how its trapped. The ventilation shows how the
temperature doesnt increase as much as the green house gas effect.

Content:

Consumers demand product:

How much us as humans need to drink and consume daily
o Average omnivorous human eats pound of meat per day and drinks about 68
fluid ounces
Our bodies are 50-65% water

Nine billion animals raised and slaughtered for human consumption each year in
the U.S
farms yield a relatively small amount of meat, dairy, and eggs for this input, and
in return produce staggering quantities of waste and greenhouse gases, polluting
our land, air, and water and contributing to climate change.

Cattle:

Weight of cows, how many resources water/food do cows/poultry consume

o Average cow weighs 1200lbs
o Cow requires 12-20 gallons of water daily
o Live stock is responsivle for 80-90% of US water consumption
o Requires 32 pounds of food per day
o Antibiotic resistance
o Issues with waste storage
o Chemical storage shortages
o Fossil fuel usage

The use of Land for agriculture:

Contiguous 48 states in US contains 1.9 billion usable acres
Crops utilize 349 million acres
o 4 times the size of montana
3 million acres are used to grow crops for human
o Belize is larger than this
41% of the US is used by grazing livestock or 788 million acres

8.4 times the size of montana

The use of land for agriculture Summary:

Greatest bulk of land is for livestock crops
A small shift in our diet away from meat could have a good impact on:
o Freeing up lands for restoration and wildlife habitat
o Reduce the poisoning of our streams and groundwater with pestisides and other
modern agricultural practices

Animal agriculture and environment impact continued..

Deforestation- permanent destriction of forests in order to make the land

available for other use
o To make space for farming animals and crop
Irrigation
Pesticides/herbicides placed on plants
Vehicles and equipment needed
o To plan the crops, harvest the crops
o Transport the feed to where the animals are
o Transport the meat to the stores where we buy it

What are greenhouse gases?

Trace atmospheric gases which build up as

o Carbon dioxide
o Methane
o Nitrous oxide
Caused
o Agricultural livestock
o Burning of fossil fuels
o Deforestation

Cows and greenhouse gases:

Cow release methane

18% of greenhouse gas emission is from livestock
Methane is similar to carbon dioxide but its worse for the environment

Common gases used daily:

Refer to pic
Producers, consumers, sun, oxygen carbondioxide, methane

Conservation of resources:

Wastewater treatment
Organic farming practices
Cover crops
Nitrogen cycle
o Explain from diagram

Plant based diets around the world

Explain lots of people eat beans and rice throughout the world
Refer to diagram in slides

Call to Action:
Think about how your daily actions could impact the environment and the food
you consume.
Wrap up:

Thank you

questions

Resources:
http://www.visionlearning.com/en/library/Earth-Science/6/The-Nitrogen-Cycle/98
http://animalsmart.org/animals-and-the-environment/environmental-impact-of-animal-production
http://science.time.com/2013/12/16/the-triple-whopper-environmental-impact-of-global-meatproduction/
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2010/march/livestock-revolution-environment-031610.html
https://www.farmsanctuary.org/learn/factory-farming/factory-farming-and-the-environment/#
http://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/explore-healing-practices/food-medicine/how-are-foodand-environment-related
https://www.farmsanctuary.org/learn/factory-farming/factory-farming-and-the-environment/#