How to Take the Great Big Crunch
On Thursday March 6th join students across Canada in taking one big bite towards healthy living through healthy eating.
FoodShare’s ‘Great Big Crunch’ invites students and teachers to learn about healthy eating and local and global food systems while following the journey from the apple seed, to the harvest, to the market, to the core.
What: A day of apple education in the classroom ending with the distribution of healthy and delicious local apples and a synchronized ‘Great Big’ classroom ‘Crunch’.
Why:
· kick off nutrition month
· promote healthy snacking
· highlight availability of local apples all year round
· use the apple as point of departure for activities on nutrition, cross pollination, composting, healthy recipes, local food systems, grafting and more
When: Thursday March 6th 2008. Here at FoodShare we’ll be taking ‘the Crunch’ at 2:30 pm but when you register we want to hear when you’ll take your Great Big Crunch
Where: In classrooms across Canada
Who: Students, teachers and individuals across the country interested in learning more about apples and participating in a cross Canada salute to healthy and local eating
How:
1.Register your class or school online by emailing thegreatbigcrunch@foodshare.net and include your school name, location, number of participating students and what time your class will take the Great Big Crunch.
2. Starting on Monday February 25th visit www.foodshare.net to download your classroom activities
3. Purchase local apples for the Great Big Crunch
4. On Thursday March 6th run the Great Big Crunch in your classroom and enhance your students’ understanding of the food system through the journey of an apple from seed to table.
5. Distribute the apples to your students and on your count have the whole class take a Great Big Crunch at once!
6. Tell us what time you took the Great Big Crunch and help us take a great big crunch towards healthy local eating!
The Great Big Crunch
The Great Big Crunch is a great way to get your students excited about Nutrition Month and knowing that they are a part of a cross Canadian crunch adds even more ‘a peel’.
Whether your class participates in a day’s worth of activities, an afternoon or just one Great Big Crunch we hope your students come away from the experience with an enhanced interest in and understanding of apples, from seed to table.
Whatever you do to celebrate the Great Big Crunch we hope you’ll register at thegreatbigcrunch@foodshare.net and share it with us so we can keep track of crunches happening from coast to coast.
Here are a list of suggested activities and resources to highlight the benefits of eating healthy and delicious Canadian apples while learning a bit more about the food system.
From Seed to Table to Apple Core
Although simply encouraging healthy eating by participating in a synchronized Great Big Crunch is a valuable experience for your students why not take the opportunity to expand their understanding of apples through a variety of different stages.
Learning from the Grower – Contact an apple grower or local orchard. Have students develop a list of questions for the grower and write a class letter or invite the grower to visit your classroom. Investigate how apples grow from seed to grafting to harvesting and more.
Apple Nutrition –Apples are a nutritious and delicious snack lending ample opportunity to explore healthy eating and classroom friendly recipes
Composting the Core – Using apple cores to teach decomposition is a great way to explore composting in the classroom from exploring the ins and outs of an indoor worm bin to outdoor composting include your class in a rotten apple party they’re sure not to forget.
The Earth as an Apple – This popular activity looks at the world as an apple, illustrating how much soil we have to grow the food we eat.
And more - Follow this link for some classroom appropriate activities, recipes and handouts.
