Reckling, Moritz
- Department of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF)
Research article2025Peer reviewedOpen access
Linking the Topics "Climate Change and Nutrition" by Discussing Sustainability in Chemistry Lessons at School
Seifert, Michelle; Reckling, Moritz; Hermanns, Jolanda
Abstract
Agricultural production in Europe is intensive, highly specialized, and responsible for some negative environmental impacts related to climate change and loss of biodiversity, raising questions about the sustainability of farming and the wider food system. The integration of legumes into agricultural systems could contribute to the transition to more sustainable food production and consumption. For example, for the production of 100 g of protein in beef, 49.89 kg of CO2 is emitted, whereas for 100 g of protein in pulses, it is only 0.84 kg. While the general benefits from legume cultivation and consumption are widely known in the scientific community, there is little evidence on how to inform next generations. Therefore, in this paper, the development of materials for discussing sustainability in chemistry lessons at school using a guided inquiry approach is described and discussed. Chickpea and lupin were identified as two contrasting legume species that allowed exploring the role of established and novel crops as an example in Germany. Chemistry experiments related to nutrition were further developed, using canned chickpeas and lupin yoghurt as examples for plant-based food products. All materials were made available using an interaction box to ensure that the students can plan their own learning process individually. After finishing the work with the box, the students can use their results for a discussion.
Keywords
Climate change; nutrition; sustainability; legumes; school lessons; experiments
Published in
Journal of Chemical Education
2025, volume: 102, number: 1, pages: 84–93
Publisher: AMER CHEMICAL SOC
SLU Authors
Global goals (SDG)
SDG2 Zero hunger
SDG4 Quality education
SDG12 Responsible consumption and production
UKÄ Subject classification
Environmental Sciences and Nature Conservation
Learning
Other Chemistry Topics
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00131
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/139849