Lesson Plan

Can Plant-Based Meat Mitigate Climate Change?

Overview

Many Americans are seeking out alternatives to meat, convinced that consuming plant-based substitutes may help solve climate change. This 13-minute video takes a look at today’s newest meat alternatives which have the sizzle, smell and taste of the animal variety. Although seemingly a new idea, the plant-based meat alternative has its roots in a movement that took off in the 1970s with Frances Moore Lappe’s bestselling book “Diet for a Small Planet.” This lesson asks students to assess the nutritional, economic and environmental pros and cons of plant-based meat to develop a claim for or against the promotion of plant-based meat as a mitigation strategy for climate change.

Lesson Plan: Can Plant-Based Meat Mitigate Climate Change?Student Activity: Can Plant-Based Meat Mitigate Climate Change?Collection: Environmental Education

Objectives

Students will:

  • Assess the nutritional value of a meatless burger
  • Assess the environmental impact of plant-based meat production compared to beef production
  • Assess the economic success of plant-based meats by considering the economic growth of companies and the statistics presented by the Association of Plant-based Meat.
  • Develop a scientific argument to support or negate the use of meat alternatives as a potential mitigation strategy for climate change
  • Create an advertisement to communicate a scientific argument to a wide audience
Subjects
  • Biology
  • Environment
Topics
  • AP Environmental Science
  • Environment
  • The Environment and Natural Resources
  • Public Health
  • Biology
For Teachers

Essential Questions

  • Do plant-based meat alternatives present an effective mitigation strategy for climate change?
  • How can scientific information be communicated to a wide audience?

Additional Resources

Video: Our Appetite for Beef Is Growing. So Are Climate Worries.Retro Report 
Transcript for "Meatless Burgers Are on Trend. Eating to Save the World Has a Long History."Retro Report 
Beyond Meat Nutrition InformationBeyond Meat 
Beef Nutrition InformationVerywell Fit 
Tofurkey Burger Nutrition InformationTofurky 
Lifeless Market For Meatless MeatForbes 
2021 U.S. Retail Sales Data for the Plant-Based Foods IndustryPlant Based Food Association 
Beyond Meat AdvertisementAddictive (YouTube) 

Standards (National Council for the Social Studies C3 Framework)

Gather relevant information from multiple sources while using the origin, authority, structure, context, and corroborative value of the sources to guide the selection.

Gather relevant information from multiple sources representing a wide range of views while using the origin, authority, structure, context, and corroborative value of the sources to guide the selection.

Identify evidence that draws information from multiple sources to support claims, noting evidentiary limitations

Construct arguments using claims and evidence from multiple sources, while acknowledging the strengths and limitations of the arguments.

Construct arguments using precise and knowledgeable claims, with evidence from multiple sources, while acknowledging counterclaims and evidentiary weaknesses.

Standards (Next Generation Science Standards)

Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.

Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth’s systems

Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems

Standards (AP Biology)

Energetics

Systems Interactions

Standards (AP Environmental Science)

Interactions between different species and the environment (EIN)

Sustainability (STB)

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Questions? Tips? Concerns? Reach out to our Director of Education, David Olson: dolson@retroreport.com