Free Rice?
Written By Mrs.
Niebauer’s 6th grade Enrichment Class
One day in Mrs. Niebauer’s class we started
using a website which allows the user to answer questions from a variety of
academic subjects in order to both gain and demonstrate knowledge and donate
rice to the hungry. What is this
website? www.freerice.com
According to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section of the website,
Freerice was founded in October 2007 by John Breen. In March 2009, Mr. Breen donated the site to
the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). The WFP is the United Nations frontline agency
in the fight against global hunger and the world's largest humanitarian
organization, working closely with many other organizations in over 75
countries. Does the World Food Programme
profit? No, it doesn’t. The WFP is committed to the cause of ending
hunger around the world. Sponsors make
payments directly to the WFP and 100% of the money raised goes to feed the
hungry.
The freerice game is both educational and
fun, and actually, a bit addicting.
Players can choose from a variety of subjects including English
Vocabulary, Spanish, Famous Paintings, Basic Math, SAT Prep, World Landmarks,
and Human Anatomy. As we played the game
we noticed that when we get a question right we donate 10 grains of rice that
will go to the hungry. We started to develop some questions. Is this real? What does 10 grains of rice
look like? How much rice is in a
serving? How much rice are we actually
donating in 30 minutes of playing? We decided
to answer these questions by conducting our own research. Mrs. Niebauer brought in a one pound bag of
uncooked white rice. From the packaging
we learned that a serving of rice was ¼ cup. We each counted one serving of the uncooked
grains of rice, then averaged our individual results to discover that in one
serving there is approximately 2,711 grains of rice. Then we went online and played for about 30
minutes. Again, we averaged our
individual totals to determine that the average amount of rice donated in 30 minutes
was 3,323, which is about 1 1/5 of a serving. So, half an hour of play really
can make a difference in the life of a person in need. It is our hope that you donate your time to
feed hungry communities of people around the world. Thank you and donate away!