Foodtopia
For our last project of the 2014/2015 school year we completed the Foodtopia project. This project was a cross between three classes; humanities, chemistry, and art. We started by studying food molecules and the different macro and micro nutrients. We completed labs in chemistry breaking down proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids. Once we had a general understanding of what makes up food and how our bodies digest it we got into groups and dove into deeper research about more specific sub topics. My group and I studied different eating lifestyles and if it was possible to be healthy while following a vegetarian based diet. In art class we worked with elementary students to create wooden tiles to be planted as stepping stones in the garden with facts and graphics on them along with a pizza slice that goes into a wheel as an educational tool and fun activity for the elementary school students to do. However, it took us a very long time to get to the final products. We started by brainstorming project proposals about what we should make. We created posters and presented to the class. We gave feedback and combined ideas as a class to narrow down options. Here were our proposals for each school; elementary, middle, and high.
As a class we decided on the pizza slice and garden tiles. The next step was to start designing and drafting. We took our drafts and went to the elementary school to interview second graders and get feedback. Our first pizza slice draft got wet in the rain when we walked over and do not have a picture but this is our second draft of the pizza slice
We had multiple drafts for our tile but the main idea stayed the same. It is a simple fact of how many Americans are vegetarian with a picture representing no meat. We got a lot of positive feedback from the kids and made sure they understood the message. When we interviewed the elementary schoolers our main goal was to see how much they knew about different diets such as vegetarian and vegan. Here are some of their responses!
What is a vegetarian? Vegan?
- doesn't eat meat, milk, cheese - when you love veggies -eats veggies Fav veggies: - kale chips - carrots - snapea crisps ("deep fried peas) - cabbage Fav fruits: - watermelon - cantaloupe - raspberries - oranges - honey dew |
Fav food:
- chips - pizza - frozen soda (because soda is a beverage but when you freeze it, it becomes food) - ravioli Would you consider being a vegetarian? - "Yes because I could plant stem cells and grow hot dogs so it would be a hot dog vegetable" - "Yes because I want to be a veg" - "Seeds are animals! How do you think we have farms!" What does a vegetarian look like? - green because they eat veggies -really skinny - thin because your muscles come from meat and if you don't eat meat then you don't have muscles - not meat on your skin - very tired |
The graphic above will be going on the garden tile. We used pieces of scrap wood drilled together to create a hexagon. We then sealed and painted the tile. To make the final project, we took our design and traced it on to the wood with pencil. Then we filled in the pencil outline with white paint. Below is our final product that was installed in the garden. |
This was a joint project between three classes. Below are links to view more work for the same project in different classes.