Reading Lesson: Sustainable Seafood
Lesson Plan
2 hours 30 minutesGrades6, 7, 8English Language Arts
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Written by Kate Strangfeld, Elaine Makarevich, Emily Townsend
About this lesson
Students read and analyze information about where we get our seafood and sustainable seafood practices.
Inquire: Students read and view information to answer, “Where do we get our seafood?”
Investigate: Students read and view information about methods of catching and raising fish for food and its impact on communities and ecosystems.
Inspire: Students read about sustainable practices and consider if the sources of seafood in their community are sustainable.
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Everything you need to teach it
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Suggestions
- This lesson provides background on seafood consumption in the United States and globally.
- This lesson can be used in an English Language Arts unit on strategies for reading nonfiction.
- The Investigate and Inspire sections can be taught on separate days.
- Students consider how their choices and actions can impact our planet.
- Students interact with various forms of media to synthesize information and form their own understandings of the topic.
Prerequisites
- Student Readings can be accessed through our partner’s website, BiteScized Science.
- Students need computers to complete the Investigate and Inspire sections.
- This lesson requires a high level of reading and viewing comprehension, as well as inferencing. In addition, students are required to read and analyze charts and graphs.
Differentiation
- The readings in the Student Document are written at a 1010-1200 Lexile level.
- Students may work in dyads or triads to take notes throughout the lesson. Alternatively, the teacher may lead the note taking process if students have less experience using multimedia sources.
- As an extension, students can write to the company they researched in the Inspire section, asking questions and detailing their findings related to sustainable practices.
- Teacher can use the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative Podcast, Today I Learned About What I Eat (0-13:08) to help students answer the question: “Does the food we consume impact our planet? How?” in the Inspire Section.
From the scientist review
Deep insights about oyster farming and its effects on the environment are provided by this lesson. It also emphasizes understanding the source of seafood and sustainable methods for harvesting and farming. We have examined the lesson's graphics, datasets, and all supplementary materials and this lesson fulfilled the requirements of our science exam.
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About the teacher writers
Kate Strangfeld
6-12 Chemistry Teacher
I'm a current student at Harvard Graduate School of Education and previously taught middle school science and high school chemistry for 8 years in Washington, DC. I also love to cook and be active. I focus on designing lessons that are hands-on and use real-world scenarios to make science engaging and approachable to students. I'm also currently exploring how we can use cooking and food to teach chemistry in a more interesting & relatable way.
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Elaine Makarevich
Chief Outreach Officer
Elaine Makarevich, M.Ed., is SubjectToClimate's Chief Outreach Officer. She has over 30 years of experience teaching K–6 across all subjects and holds a B.A. from Rutgers University and an M.Ed. from East Stroudsburg University and Centenary University, along with Supervisor and Gifted Education certifications. Outside of work, she loves gardening — flowers, vegetables, and everything in between.
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Emily Townsend
K-8 ELL Teacher
Emily Townsend is an educator with 15 years of teaching experience as both a general education teacher and an English Language Learner (ELL) specialist. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from Drake University and a Master of Arts in Teaching, Leadership, and Cultural Competency from the University of Iowa.
