A close up of a drop of water sitting on a green leaf

Virtual Workshop: Sussing Sustainability

The challenge is to figure out what makes a ‘best’ pack lunch… for you, other people and for the planet.

In researching and choosing their ‘best’ pack lunch for a trip to Eden pupils will develop an understanding of simple sustainability principles and in so doing, will take the first steps towards becoming informed consumers.

Book a virtual workshop

Our virtual school trips are delivered online by a member of our Education Team just for your class. We’ll lead the session, delivering live activities, challenges and conversations with your class; supported by pre-recorded videos. We will provide all the resources and materials you need to support your learners in class.

Workshop overview

The session begins with the pupils writing a shopping list and selecting six products to build their ‘best’ packed lunch. They then earn the right to ‘buy’ the products from the shop in a True/False quiz which introduces key food facts.

They research the products that they’ve chosen – ideally in a treasure hunt around the classroom (using information we provide) with the aim of discovering the sustainability-related stories behind the foods they have selected.

We look at one issue in more depth – food miles, and then reconsider what ‘best’ might mean given all the new knowledge they’ve discovered. Pupils are asked to review the contents of their packed lunch and consider how good it really is in terms of its impact on health, waste, packaging, food miles, farming practices and Fairtrade before perhaps choosing to rebuild the contents of their lunchbox in light of what they have learnt.

Finally, we highlight that making choices in the knowledge of a product or action’s impact on people and the environment is what sustainability is all about.

How it works

An Eden Teacher will be based in the Core Education Centre at Eden and will lead the live workshop. You and your class will be the only participants – it's just for you.

The Eden Teacher will introduce Eden and the session and lead your pupils through a mixture of presentation, film, short tasks, Q&A. At least one teacher will need to remain present during the workshop, either in your physical classroom or as a participant on the call if pupils are joining from multiple locations. We’ll ask for your help organising groups and selecting pupils to give feedback.

We’ll provide all the resources necessary prior to the session and ask you to make them available to pupils via individual devices or in hard copy – we keep this to a minimum.

The sessions are delivered via video conference using Zoom (our preference) or Microsoft Teams. We’ll send you your unique meeting details after your booking confirmation.

You’ll need a computer with the ability to join a videoconference with a webcam and microphone connected to or built into the computer so that the Eden Teacher can see and hear your class.

You’ll also a smartboard, screen or projector and speakers connected to the computer so that your class can see and hear the Eden Teacher.

Each event is only attended by a single class with a unique access code for each booking.
Sessions are delivered from the Eden Project in a location where no members of the public will have access to seeing the students on screen.
A minimum of two adults should always be present online, if Eden staff believe they are alone with the group they will end the call.
It is not acceptable for anyone (including school staff) to record visual or audio content, take screen shots or videos or share private information without documented permission.
If any pupils are joining from home rather than from the school classroom, participants will be held in a waiting room before the event and teachers are invited from the waiting room into the meeting first to verify they are teachers and to confirm the names of students expected in the session.