The Palm Oil Puzzle: Sustainability and Our World
Curriculum Developed by
Javaha Ross, Penn Alexander School
Description
Palm oil is used in a number of household and food products that we use every day. Due to the demand for palm oil, plantations in tropical climates around the world often harvest palm oil by clearing threatened rainforests. Over-harvesting of palm oil has contributed to deforestation, affecting fragile ecosystems and endangering native species. On the other hand, palm oil is an efficient crop (producing more oil per acre than other crops grown for their oil, such as soybeans); and it also produces oil that is healthier than the high trans-fat shortenings that it typically replaces. So what should we do in our part of the world, if anything, to address this issue?
Students will analyze and examine primary sources, articles, infographics, and videos to gather multiple perspectives in order to come to their own conclusions. Students will then choose a mode for expressing their conclusion and supporting it with evidence.
Educator Reflection on Themes
“Using the EAD framework helped the educator approach the unit through a more civically minded lens, showing sixth-grade students that they can participate in civic life even before they are old enough to vote.
By exploring consumer choices and the impacts of products such as palm oil, students connected their everyday lives to issues of labor, sustainability, and global citizenship.
Giving students the freedom to choose their audience and how they communicated their findings led to strong engagement and encouraged them to consider whether their actions could make a difference.
The experience also prompted students to apply their learning across subjects and begin thinking about other ways they could participate in and impact current issues.”