Students often do not like what’s offered for their school lunch, and cafeteria staff hates seeing all of the food that is thrown away. This is your chance to change school lunches!
The food service manager for your school has asked for your class’s help crafting lunches that are both nutritious and delicious! You will learn about food nutrition and create a sample menu for a week of school lunches.
Start by asking your students what it means to be fit or healthy. List their answers on the board or attach them to the wall using sticky notes. Then, ask them to try to group some of their answers together.
You want them to understand that being fit and healthy is a combination of factors, including:
In order to discuss nutritious meals, it’s important to have an understanding of how the body converts food into energy (consuming calories) and expends energy (burning calories).
Ask your students if they think calories are good or bad. Let them debate this for a while so you can see what they know or understand.
Explain that calories are units of heat energy. Our bodies see calories as units of fuel. If 120 calories from broccoli gives your body the same energy as 120 calories from sugary soda or greasy potato chips, does it matter which you eat? Why do we call some calories “empty calories?”
Explain to students that even though solid fats and added sugars increase the number of calories in our food intake, they are referred to as " empty calories" as they do not contribute any nutrients. In addition to energy from calories, our bodies need vitamins, minerals, and even fiber to help keep our digestive systems running properly.
Eating healthy means combining foods with sufficient calories and nutrients (quality calories) to provide our bodies with everything they need to thrive.
Looking back at the three aspects of being healthy listed above:
Spend time reviewing and learning more about the digestive system and how the cells in the body use and store energy.
Explore and discuss healthy eating using the MyPlate image from the USDA. Talk about the different groupings of food and how focusing on portions and food groups can help us eat healthier.
Have students document their food intake for one day. This should include what they ate, how much they ate, and the total calories. If most students eat school lunch, it might be more interesting to have them document what they ate on the weekend.
Depending on your students’ proficiency with and interest in this topic, you may choose to have them categorize their food intake within each of the food groups and list major ingredients and nutrients in each item.
Work as a class to share and categorize students’ favorite foods. Which food group do most choices fall into? Which of their favorite foods are healthy? Evaluate the how each of the food choices meets the USDA recommendations.
Next, brainstorm healthy options for lunch foods as a whole group. Create a list on your white board or develop a Google Document to share with each student.
Ask students to create a visual representation of the lunch they actually ate. Students can use the Balanced Meal activity in Wixie. Once this is complete, ask them to duplicate the page and make adjustments to improve the nutritional value of the meal while still choosing foods they enjoy eating.
Have the students meet in small teams to share and discuss both pages of their projects. Ask students for additional ideas and changes to make their team’s meals more nutritious.
This time is designed to reinforce comprehension of what makes food nutritious, as well as expose students to healthy food choices they were not previously aware of.
As a class, discuss the current school lunch program. How many students use the school lunch program? What do the students think of the food? Do some students bring food from home? Are lunches from home more or less healthy than school lunches?
Most students will not be familiar with the process the cafeteria staff uses to produce the menu, so ask someone from food service to share how they design and deliver the meals. This might even make a great in-house field trip!
A discussion of how the cafeteria works invariably results in some discussion about financial aspects of the food service program. While this is a crucial component of menu planning for food service, consider carefully if you want student work to be constrained by budget. This adds a layer of complexity which can change the focus of their work away from energy transfer and nutrition, and can also increase the time needed to complete the project.
Once students have background knowledge and information about nutritious foods and meals and the menu planning process, let them know that it is their task to provide some healthy suggestions to their school’s food services program. Working in small groups, student teams will design a menu for a week of school lunches that will encourage healthy eating and reduce the amount of food students throw away.
Some groups may want to distribute a survey to another class, or classes, and use the resulting data to help them with their lunch menu design.
Student teams should create a presentation outlining the menu for the entire week, as well as textual and visual information about the items they have chosen to include. If you feel it is necessary to provide structure, you might ask students to create a six-page or six-section presentation that outlines the entire week, a slide for the menu for each day, and a slide that summarizes the research and thinking behind the design.
The final presentation should include both informative and persuasive writing as well as a speaking component. Teams should be prepared to defend why they selected the meals they did and use descriptive and enticing language to persuade the food service program to implement their suggestions.
Have students present their work to members of the school or district food service program and have them evaluate how effective each was in convincing them to implementing change in future menu items. Presentations and proposals should include expository writing and speaking that informs as well as persuasive writing and speaking that seeks to convince others to implement the menu changes.
If school or district personnel can’t attend, invite food service professionals from your community or ask other students in the class to act as experts, relying on the expertise they have gained during the unit.
You could also have students first present to one another and then work together as an entire class to choose the best of the best from each presentation. As a class, students could present their recommendations to the food service program. If your students have enough great ideas, they might even present an entire month’s worth of meal ideas.
Even if you aren’t able to share student work with an authentic audience, be sure to use the opportunity to start more class discussion about healthy eating and brainstorm other non-food-service ideas for getting students to eat healthy foods.
As you activate prior knowledge about calories and health at the start of the lesson, assess how much students already know about nutrition. Use their documentation of daily food intake as an opportunity for individual discussions that will help you identify misconceptions.
The changes students make to their meal choices in the Balanced Meal activity and the follow-up small group discussions provide opportunities to solidify knowledge about nutrition, as well as prompt thinking about how information can impact our motivation to take action and change behavior.
The proposal project file should include examples of both informative and persuasive writing. You can also evaluate students’ writing for their ability to develop and communicate with images and diagrams.
The presentation provides an opportunity to assess speaking and oral presentation skills. You may also want to consider evaluating the project management, teamwork, planning, and organization that occurred during the process.
Connie Liakos Evers. How to Teach Nutrition to Kids ISBN: 0964797003
Janice VanCleave. Food and Nutrition for Every Kid: Easy Activities That Make Learning Science Fun ASIN: B0024NK5PG (Kindle)
School Gardens and Salad Bars – Whole Kids Foundation (Whole Foods)
Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
MS-LS1-7. Develop a model to describe how food is rearranged through chemical reactions forming new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as this matter moves through an organism.
Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
MS-LS2-4. Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
Text Types and Purpose
2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
2a. Introduce a topic; organize ideas, concepts, and information, using strategies such as definition, classification, comparison/contrast, and cause/effect; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
Production and Distribution of Writing:
4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of three pages in a single sitting.
3. Knowledge Constructor
Students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others. Students:
a. plan and employ effective research strategies to locate information and other resources for their intellectual or creative pursuits.
b. evaluate the accuracy, perspective, credibility and relevance of information, media, data or other resources.
c. curate information from digital resources using a variety of tools and methods to create collections of artifacts that demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions.
d. build knowledge by actively exploring real-world issues and problems, developing ideas and theories and pursuing answers and solutions.
6. Creative Communicator
Students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate to their goals. Students:
a. choose the appropriate platforms and tools for meeting the desired objectives of their creation or communication.
b. create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations.
c. communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively by creating or using a variety of digital objects such as visualizations, models or simulations.
d. publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their intended audiences.
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Mara nyingi wanafunzi hawapendi chakula cha mchana cha shule, na wafanyakazi wa mkahawa huchukia kuona chakula chote kinachotupwa. Hii ni nafasi yako ya kubadilisha chakula cha mchana cha shule! Msimamizi wa huduma ya chakula cha shule yako ameomba msaada wa darasa lako kutengeneza chakula cha mchana ambacho ni chenye lishe na kitamu! Utajifunza kuhusu lishe ya chakula na kuunda orodha ya sampuli kwa ajili ya wiki ya chakula cha mchana cha shule. "Kwanza uwaulize wanafunzi wako maana ya ""kufaa"" au ""kufaa.""" Weka majibu yako kwenye ubao au weka kwenye ukuta kwa kutumia noti. Kisha, waulize wajaribu kuunganisha baadhi ya majibu yao. Ili kujadili chakula chenye lishe, ni muhimu kuwa na uelewa wa jinsi mwili hubadilisha chakula kuwa nishati (kutumia kalori) na kutumia nishati (kuchoma kalori). Waulize wanafunzi wako ikiwa wanafikiri kalori ni nzuri au mbaya. Wacha wazungumze juu ya hili kwa muda ili uweze kuona kile wanachojua au kuelewa. Eleza kwamba kalori ni vitengo vya nishati ya joto. Mwili wetu huona kalori kuwa vitengo vya mafuta. Ikiwa kalori 120 kutoka kwa broccoli hutoa nishati sawa na kalori 120 kutoka kwa soda yenye sukari au chips za viazi, ni muhimu nini unachokula? "Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, ""kalori tupu"" ni neno linalotumiwa kuelezea kwamba mafuta na sukari zinazozidi kuongezeka kwa kiasi cha kalori katika chakula, kwa sababu hazina virutubisho." Mbali na kalori, mwili wetu unahitaji vitamini, madini, na hata nyuzinyuzi ili mfumo wetu wa kumeng'enya chakula uendelee kufanya kazi vizuri. Kula vizuri inamaanisha kuchanganya vyakula vyenye kalori na virutubisho vya kutosha (kalori za ubora) ili kutoa miili yetu na kila kitu wanachohitaji ili kusitawi. Kwa kuzingatia mambo matatu ya kuwa na afya yaliyoorodheshwa hapo juu, tumia muda kukagua na kujifunza zaidi juu ya mfumo wa kumeng'enya chakula na jinsi chembe za mwili hutumia na kuhifadhi nishati. Kujifunza kuhusu chakula cha afya na jinsi ya kuitumia kwa kutumia picha ya MyPlate kutoka kwa USDA Kujifunza kuhusu aina mbalimbali za chakula na jinsi ya kuamua kiasi cha chakula cha kula na jinsi ya kula vyakula vyenye afya. Waombe wanafunzi waandike chakula wanachokula kwa siku moja. Hii inapaswa kujumuisha kile walichokula, ni kiasi gani walichokula, na jumla ya kalori. Ikiwa wanafunzi wengi hula chakula cha mchana shuleni, inaweza kuwa ya kuvutia zaidi kuwafanya waandike kile walichokula mwishoni mwa wiki. Kulingana na ujuzi wa wanafunzi wako na maslahi katika mada hii, unaweza kuchagua kuwapa kugawanya ulaji wao wa chakula ndani ya kila kikundi cha chakula na orodha ya viungo kuu na virutubisho katika kila kitu. Fanya kazi kama darasa kushiriki na kuainisha vyakula vya wapenzi wa wanafunzi. Ni kikundi gani cha vyakula ambacho chaguzi nyingi huanguka ndani yake? Ni vyakula gani wanavyopenda vyenye afya? Utafiti wa kila aina ya chakula unaonyesha jinsi kila aina ya chakula inavyokidhi mapendekezo ya USDA. Kisha, fikiria chaguzi zenye afya za vyakula vya mchana pamoja. Kuunda orodha kwenye ubao wako mweupe au kuendeleza Google Hati ya kushiriki na kila mwanafunzi. Waulize wanafunzi wafanye uwakilishi wa kuona wa chakula cha mchana walichokula. Wanafunzi wanaweza kutumia shughuli ya Chakula cha Usawa katika Wixie. Baada ya kufanya hivyo, waulize wafanye marekebisho ili kuboresha thamani ya lishe ya mlo huo huku wakichagua vyakula wanavyopenda kula. Waulize wanafunzi wakutane katika vikundi vidogo ili kushiriki na kuzungumzia kurasa zote mbili za miradi yao. Waulize wanafunzi kwa ajili ya mawazo ya ziada na mabadiliko ya kufanya chakula cha timu yao zaidi ya lishe. Wakati huu umekusudiwa kuimarisha uelewa wa kile kinachofanya chakula kiwe na lishe, na pia kuwafunua wanafunzi chaguzi za chakula cha afya ambazo hawakujua hapo awali. Mzungumze pamoja kuhusu mpango wa chakula cha mchana wa shule wa sasa. Ni wanafunzi wangapi wanaotumia programu ya chakula cha mchana cha shule? Wanafunzi wana maoni gani kuhusu chakula hicho? Je, baadhi ya wanafunzi huleta chakula kutoka nyumbani? Je, chakula cha mchana cha nyumbani ni chenye afya zaidi au kidogo kuliko chakula cha mchana cha shuleni? Kwa sababu wanafunzi wengi hawajui jinsi wafanyakazi wa mkahawa wanavyotengeneza orodha ya vyakula, waulize mtu kutoka kwa huduma ya chakula jinsi wanavyotengeneza na kusambaza vyakula. Hii inaweza hata kufanya safari kubwa ya shambani ya ndani ya nyumba! Mazungumzo juu ya jinsi mkahawa unavyofanya kazi daima husababisha mazungumzo fulani juu ya mambo ya kifedha ya programu ya utumishi wa chakula. Ingawa hii ni sehemu muhimu ya mipango ya orodha ya chakula, fikiria kwa uangalifu ikiwa unataka kazi ya mwanafunzi kuwa imefungwa na bajeti. Hii inaongeza safu ya utata ambayo inaweza kubadilisha mwelekeo wa kazi yao mbali na uhamisho wa nishati na lishe, na pia inaweza kuongeza muda unaohitajika kukamilisha mradi. Baada ya wanafunzi kuwa na maarifa ya msingi na habari kuhusu vyakula vyenye lishe na mchakato wa kupanga orodha, wajue kuwa ni kazi yao kutoa mapendekezo ya afya kwa programu ya huduma za chakula ya shule yao. Kwa kufanya kazi katika vikundi vidogo, timu za wanafunzi zitaunda orodha ya chakula cha mchana cha wiki moja cha shule ambayo itahimiza kula afya na kupunguza kiasi cha chakula ambacho wanafunzi hutupa. Baadhi ya makundi inaweza kutaka kusambaza utafiti kwa darasa jingine au madarasa, na kutumia data inayotokana na kuwasaidia na kubuni orodha yao ya chakula cha mchana. Timu za wanafunzi zinapaswa kuunda maonyesho ya orodha ya chakula kwa wiki nzima, pamoja na habari ya maandishi na ya kuona kuhusu vitu ambavyo wamechagua kujumuisha. Ikiwa unaona ni muhimu kutoa muundo, unaweza kuwauliza wanafunzi waunda uwasilishaji wa kurasa sita au sehemu sita ambazo zinaelezea wiki nzima, slaidi ya orodha ya kila siku, na slaidi ambayo inatoa muhtasari wa utafiti na kufikiri nyuma ya muundo. Maonyesho ya mwisho yanapaswa kutia ndani maandishi yenye kuelimisha na yenye kushawishi na pia sehemu ya kusema. Timu zinapaswa kuwa tayari kutetea kwa nini walichagua chakula walichokifanya na kutumia lugha ya kuelezea na ya kuvutia kushawishi programu ya huduma ya chakula kutekeleza mapendekezo yao. Waulize wanafunzi wawasilishe kazi zao kwa wanachama wa programu ya huduma ya chakula ya shule au wilaya na uwaambie watathmini jinsi kila mmoja alikuwa na ufanisi katika kuwashawishi kutekeleza mabadiliko katika vitu vya menyu ya baadaye. Mawasilisho na mapendekezo yanapaswa kujumuisha maandishi ya kuelezea na kuzungumza ambayo huarifu na pia maandishi ya kushawishi na kuzungumza ambayo inatafuta kuwashawishi wengine kutekeleza mabadiliko ya orodha. Ikiwa wafanyakazi wa shule au wilaya hawawezi kuhudhuria, mwite wataalamu wa huduma ya chakula kutoka kwa jamii yako au waulize wanafunzi wengine katika darasa kutenda kama wataalam, wakitegemea utaalam ambao wamepata wakati wa kitengo. Unaweza pia kuwa na wanafunzi kwanza kuwasilisha kwa kila mmoja na kisha kufanya kazi pamoja kama darasa nzima kuchagua bora ya bora kutoka kila kuwasilisha. Kama darasa, wanafunzi wangeweza kuwasilisha mapendekezo yao kwa programu ya huduma ya chakula. Ikiwa wanafunzi wako wana mawazo mazuri ya kutosha, wanaweza hata kuwasilisha mawazo ya chakula ya mwezi mzima. Hata kama huwezi kushiriki kazi ya mwanafunzi na watazamaji halisi, hakikisha kutumia fursa ya kuanza majadiliano zaidi ya darasa kuhusu kula afya na mawazo mengine yasiyo ya huduma ya chakula kwa kupata wanafunzi kula vyakula vyenye afya. Wakati wa kuanzisha masomo ya chakula na chakula cha mchana, unapaswa kuzingatia jinsi wanafunzi wanavyojua kuhusu chakula. Tumia maandishi yao ya ulaji wa chakula cha kila siku kama fursa ya majadiliano ya kibinafsi ambayo yatakusaidia kutambua dhana zisizo za kweli. Mabadiliko ya wanafunzi kufanya kwa uchaguzi wao wa chakula katika shughuli ya chakula cha usawa na majadiliano ya kikundi kidogo ya ufuatiliaji hutoa fursa za kuimarisha maarifa kuhusu lishe, pamoja na kufikiri haraka juu ya jinsi habari inaweza kuathiri motisha yetu ya kuchukua hatua na kubadilisha tabia. Faili ya pendekezo la mradi inapaswa kujumuisha mifano ya maandishi ya habari na ya kushawishi. Unaweza pia kutathmini wanafunzi kuandika kwa uwezo wao wa kuendeleza na kuwasiliana na picha na michoro. Maonyesho hutoa fursa ya kutathmini kuzungumza na ustadi wa maonyesho ya mdomo. Unaweza pia kufikiria kutathmini usimamizi wa mradi, kazi ya kikundi, mipango, na shirika lililotokea wakati wa mchakato. Connie Liakos Evers. Jinsi ya kufundisha lishe kwa watoto ISBN: 0964797003 Janice VanCleave "Kila mtoto ana chakula na lishe: shughuli rahisi ambazo hufanya kujifunza sayansi kuwa ya kufurahisha ASIN: B0024NK5PG (Kindle) Shule ya bustani na baa za saladi "" Whole Kids Foundation (Whole Foods) Shirika la Mwili na Mtiririko wa Nishati katika Viumbe MS-LS-1 """ "Kufanya utafiti wa ""mfano wa jinsi chakula kinavyoandaliwa upya kupitia athari za kemikali zinazotengeneza molekuli mpya ambazo zinaunga mkono ukuaji na au kutoa nishati wakati suala hili linapita kupitia kiumbe.""" Ecosystems: Maingiliano, Nishati, na Dynamics MS-LS2-4 Kujenga hoja mkono na ushahidi empirical kwamba mabadiliko ya vipengele kimwili au kibiolojia ya mazingira kuathiri idadi ya watu. Aina za maandishi na Kusudi 2. Kuandika maandishi ya habari au ya ufafanuzi ili kuchunguza mada na kutoa mawazo, dhana na habari kupitia uteuzi, shirika, na uchambuzi wa maudhui husika. 2a. Kuanzisha mada, kuandaa mawazo, dhana, na habari, kwa kutumia mikakati kama vile ufafanuzi, uainishaji, kulinganisha, na sababu, ni pamoja na kuunda (kwa mfano, vichwa vya habari), picha (kwa mfano, chati, meza), na multimedia wakati muhimu kusaidia uelewa. Uzalishaji na usambazaji wa maandishi: 4. Tengeneza maandishi yaliyo wazi na yenye upatano ambayo maendeleo, utaratibu, na mtindo ni sahihi kwa kazi, kusudi, na watazamaji. (Mfano wa maandishi ya aina ya maandishi ya aina ya maandishi ya aina ya maandishi ya aina ya maandishi ya aina ya maandishi ya aina ya maandishi ya aina ya maandishi ya aina ya maandishi ya aina ya maandishi ya aina ya maandishi ya aina ya maandishi ya aina ya maandishi ya aina ya maandishi ya aina ya maandishi ya aina ya maandishi.) 6. Uwe na uhakika Tumia teknolojia, ikiwa ni pamoja na mtandao, kutengeneza na kuchapisha maandishi, pamoja na kuingiliana na kushirikiana na wengine; kuonyesha udhibiti wa kutosha wa ujuzi wa keyboarding kuandika angalau kurasa tatu katika kikao kimoja. 3. Uwe na mtazamo wa kweli Wanafunzi huchunguza kwa uangalifu rasilimali mbalimbali kwa kutumia zana za dijiti kujenga maarifa, kutengeneza vitu vya ubunifu na kufanya uzoefu wa kujifunza wenye maana kwa wao wenyewe na wengine. Wanafunzi: a. kupanga na kutumia mikakati ya utafiti ufanisi kupata habari na rasilimali nyingine kwa ajili ya shughuli zao za kiakili au ubunifu. (b) kutathmini usahihi, mtazamo, uaminifu na umuhimu wa habari, vyombo vya habari, data au rasilimali nyingine. Kuhifadhi habari kutoka kwa rasilimali za dijiti kwa kutumia zana na mbinu mbalimbali za kuunda makusanyo ya vitu vya kale ambavyo vinaonyesha uhusiano au hitimisho lenye maana. D. kujenga maarifa kwa kuchunguza kwa bidii masuala ya ulimwengu halisi na matatizo, kuendeleza mawazo na nadharia na kufuatilia majibu na ufumbuzi. 6. Uwe na uhakika Wanafunzi wanawasiliana wazi na kujieleza kwa ubunifu kwa madhumuni mbalimbali kwa kutumia majukwaa, zana, mitindo, muundo na vyombo vya habari vya dijiti vinavyofaa malengo yao. Wanafunzi: a. kuchagua majukwaa sahihi na zana kwa ajili ya kukidhi malengo ya kutamaniwa ya uumbaji wao au mawasiliano. (b) kuunda kazi za awali au kwa uwajibikaji kubadilisha au kuchanganya rasilimali za dijiti katika uumbaji mpya. • Kuwasiliana mawazo tata wazi na kwa ufanisi kwa kuunda au kutumia aina mbalimbali ya vitu digital kama vile visualizations, mifano au simulations. • kuchapisha au kuwasilisha maudhui ambayo customizes ujumbe na vyombo vya habari kwa watazamaji wao lengo. Mawazo ya ubunifu ya darasa yanatolewa moja kwa moja kwenye sanduku lako la barua pepe mara moja kwa mwezi. Niongeze kwenye orodha ya barua pepe ya Mwalimu wa Ubunifu! Wanafunzi wako wanaweza kuunda nini? Shiriki mawazo yako, mawazo, na uelewa kupitia uandishi, sanaa, sauti, na video. Kuunda rubrics desturi kwa ajili ya darasa lako. Maktaba ya picha iliyoandaliwa, yenye haki za uchapaji ambayo ni salama na ya bure kwa elimu. Andika, rekodi, na kuonyesha sentensi. Programu ya kazi ya dijiti ya K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K