Can Plant-Based Meat Mitigate Climate Change?
OverviewMany 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.
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
- Biology
- Environment
- AP Environmental Science
- Environment
- The Environment and Natural Resources
- Public Health
- Biology
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
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.
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
Energetics
Systems Interactions
Interactions between different species and the environment (EIN)
Sustainability (STB)
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