By Alicia Hückmann and Heather Francis, VRG interns
Teachers and other presenters who would like to promote a healthier lifestyle for their children can use this outline to plan a lesson about vegetarianism/veganism. It is suited for younger children in elementary school and middle school but can be adapted for high schools as well.
Motivation (5-10 minutes)
The pupils talk about their personal experiences in regard to meat-free diets and get to know the difference between a vegetarian and a vegan.
Questions to ask:
· Who can explain what a vegetarian is?
· What is the difference between a vegetarian and a vegan?
· in order to help young children understand, you can bring vegetables, fruits, and pictures of or empty packages of animal products and ask them to label them suitable for vegans, vegetarians, both, or neither.You can show comic strips that have featured vegetarians.(Look through a few week of your weekend comics.)
Discussion (20-30 minutes)
The pupils learn to understand why vegetarians choose not to eat meat. At the same time, they find reasons for being a vegetarian.
Question: Why do many people choose to become vegetarian?
· Let them work in pairs of two to three for a few minutes first, then ask them to present their results.
· If there are vegetarians/vegans in your class, encourage them to share their motivation.
· Write down key terms as soon as they come up (environment, ethics, health).
· This can be a mind map (a hierarchical diagram that structuralizes and visualizes information) the children copy into their notebooks.
· provide background information, facts and figures to each key term if necessary.
1. Environment
See http://www.vrg.org/environment/
2. Ethics
See http://www.vrg.org/animal_rights/index.php
3. Health
See http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/
(Also religion, taste, animal welfare, influence of friend and family, allergies, cost, availability)
Retain and Transfer (5-10 minutes)
The pupils elaborate on a reason that they find especially convincing. Furthermore, they think of ways in which they as well as society as a whole can move towards responsible consumption.
Questions to ask:
· Which reason is the most important one in your opinion and why?
· What can we change about our lifestyle to help animals, the environment and our own health?
Activity (up to 1 hour)
The pupils make their own healthy, vegan nice-cream. They learn that cutting out animal products and artificial sugars from a meal does not necessarily mean it is tedious, more expensive or more difficult to make.
You will need:
· Enough cut up frozen bananas (1-2 for each pupil)
· A variety of toppings
· Fruit (pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, coconut, cherries…)
· Peanut butter
· Non-dairy vegan chocolate chips
· Nuts (if no allergies)
· Sprinkles
· Reusable or recyclable dishes and cutlery
· Blender(s) or food processor(s). A Yonanas works well. See: http://yonanas.com/
Set everything up before the lesson starts or ask your pupils to help you if they are old enough. Show the pupils how they blend the bananas, then let them try for themselves.