children participating in schools workshop

School Workshop: Sustainability Sussed

What makes the 'best' packed lunch? This workshop challenges your pupils to go on a journey and discover the sustainability stories behind the foods they eat each lunchtime.

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Workshop overview

Pupils are encouraged to reflect on the contents of their packed lunch and consider how good it really is in terms of health, waste, packaging, food miles, farming practices and Fairtrade.

The workshop begins with the pupils writing a shopping list and selecting six products to build the ‘best’ packed lunch. They then earn the right to ‘buy’ the products from the shop. Using maps and coordinates they go on a journey across the Eden site to discover the sustainability related stories behind the foods they have selected.

Upon arrival back in the classroom the pupils have a conversation about what ‘best’ might mean and complete hands on activities which lead them to review the contents of their lunch box with respect to issues about sustainability. Finally, they are given the option of rebuilding the contents of their lunchbox in light of what they have learnt.

Visiting teacher

“ It was a perfect opportunity for our students to learn outside the classroom. ”

Practical information

This workshop enables pupils to:

understand that the food we eat connects us to people and environments all over the world and that we can make a difference through the decisions we make as consumers
consider what makes the best packed lunch in terms of issues about sustainability – health, waste, packaging, food miles, farming practices and Fairtrade
justify their opinions and make decisions about the relative importance of different pieces of information
use map work skills and coordinates to plan and find their route

We've designed the workshop to help teachers cover the following subject areas:

In Geography, pupils should be taught to locate countries across the globe using maps and understand geographical similarities and differences between these places in terms of their physical and human geography. They should consider trade links between these places and the UK, economic activity, land use and environmental impacts. Pupils should learn about the impact of diet on health.

This workshop is accredited under the British Science Association’s CREST Awards scheme. Completion of the workshop enables the student to gain one sticker towards the SuperStar Award.

The workshop costs £8.25 per pupil with a minimum charge of £165 per group (includes VAT). Maximum group size is 35. The cost includes:

a facilitated workshop with our Education Team
free access to the Eden site for the day
all equipment needed for the workshop
free teaching resources enabling your class to prepare for the workshop and to follow up on the activity
a personal welcome from the Education Team at the entrance
a base for your bags in our purpose-built education centre, The Core
a space to eat your own lunch

The price includes free entry for accompanying adult helpers, whose participation is essential to the success of the day (please note our suggested adult/pupil ratios are as follows: Early Years Foundation Stage, 1:3; Key Stage 1, 1:6; Key Stage 2 and 3, 1:10; Key Stage 4, 1:15; Key Stage 5, 1:20). You’re welcome to bring more helpers if you’d like. Additional helpers are charged at our group booking rate.

We also offer a free preparatory visit to Eden for teachers wanting to plan their school trip, which should be booked in advance.