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Year 7

Eating sustainably

I can compare the impacts that different foods have on climate change and suggest ways to eat more sustainably.

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New
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Year 7

Eating sustainably

I can compare the impacts that different foods have on climate change and suggest ways to eat more sustainably.

Download all resources
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Share activities with pupils
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These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Producing food for humans and other animals uses resources and releases greenhouse gases that lead to climate change.
  2. Land-use change, farming, processing, transport, retail and packaging all add to the carbon footprint of food.
  3. Meat and plant-based products have different carbon footprints.
  4. Food production is more sustainable when it has a smaller, negative impact on the environment.
  5. Changes in diet and a reduction in food waste can help us eat more sustainably by lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

Keywords

  • Climate change - a long-term shift in weather patterns

  • Emissions - releases of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere

  • Greenhouse gases - gases in the atmosphere that keep it warmer than it would be without them

  • Carbon footprint - the calculated total amount of greenhouse gases emitted by an activity

  • Sustainable - can be carried out over a long period of time with little or no negative impact on the environment

Common misconception

Thinking that what we eat has no impact on climate change, or that all foods have roughly the same impact.

This lesson explores in detail the impacts of different foods in terms of their "carbon footprint" of greenhouse gas emissions.


To help you plan your year 7 science lesson on: Eating sustainably, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Carbon footprints are measured in "kg carbon dioxide equivalents". It might be worth giving pupils a simple explanation such as that this means the emissions could be carbon dioxide or the equivalent amount of other greenhouse gases such as methane.
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This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which are facts about a renewable resource are correct?
it will eventually run out
Correct answer: it will not run out
Correct answer: it is replenished more quickly than it is used up
it is replenished less quickly than it is used up
Q2.
How long would it take to notice whether climate change was happening where you live?
a few days
several months
a year or two
Correct answer: many years
Q3.
Which of the following gases is a greenhouse gas?
argon
Correct answer: carbon dioxide
nitrogen
oxygen
Q4.
Which of these is not a greenhouse gas?
carbon dioxide
methane
Correct answer: oxygen
Q5.
To produce less waste we need to reduce, reuse and .
Correct Answer: recycle, re cycle, re-cycle
Q6.
Which of the following activities does not produce greenhouse gas emissions?
burning gas to heat buildings
burning petrol in cars
decomposition of waste in landfill sites
Correct answer: generation of electricity with wind turbines

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
The calculated total amount of greenhouse gases emitted by an activity is called a carbon ?
Correct Answer: footprint, foot print, foot-print
Q2.
Which of the following statements about greenhouse gas emissions are correct?
rearing animals produces emissions, growing crops does not
growing crops produces emissions, rearing animals does not
neither growing crops nor rearing animals produces emissions
Correct answer: both growing crops and rearing animals produces emissions
Q3.
What is the carbon footprint of producing a particular food?
the total amount of carbon used to produce it
Correct answer: the total emissions of greenhouse gases while producing it
the total amount of carbon present in the food after it has been produced
Q4.
Starting with the food with the greatest carbon footprint, sort these foods into order of decreasing carbon footprint.
1 - beef
2 - chicken
3 - rice
4 - nuts
Q5.
A activity can be carried out over a long period of time, with little or no negative impact on the environment.
Correct Answer: sustainable, sustainability
Q6.
Which of the following is least likely to help us to eat more sustainably?
eating less meat and more fruit and vegetables instead
buying locally produced food
eating leftovers instead of throwing them away
Correct answer: buying food with lots of packaging to keep it fresh for longer