It’s on the Label
Learning to read and utilize food labels and information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, students will compare nutritional value and caloric content of canned, frozen, and fresh fruits and vegetables, compare portions to serving sizes by actually measuring both and scale label information in direct proportion to recommended caloric intake.
View LessonFeed Me — Nutritional Building Blocks
The difference between human nutrition and plant nutrients is often one of the concepts that students misunderstand. This is proven in documented errors found in standardized test questions. Students hear the term “plant food” and take that term literally, believing that plants eat (as animals do) to obtain nutrients. The intent of this lesson is to clear up that misconception as well as to teach students about the actual nutrients that plants require and the source of those nutrients.
View LessonMy Meal Choices
Student will collect personal meal consumption data, align those foods to the food guide food groups, and cross reference that information with the MyPlate to compare personal eating habits and to recommended guidelines. Students also will use that information to create their own food web.
View LessonNutrient Tally
Using the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s “Nutrient Database,” the students will compete to predict which vegetables or fruits grown in the school garden contain the highest levels of specific nutrients, graph the results and research the value of those nutrients to their growth and health.
View LessonWhat We Eat – Part 2
Students will sort fruits and vegetables (by examining plants grown in the school garden, purchased in the market, or featured in models or pictures) into the parts of the plant eaten as food, identify a serving size, and locate where on MyPlate the food belongs. Understanding the food storage function of a specific plant part will aid in understanding the nutrition provided by that plant part.
View LessonThe Roots of Food
This activity introduces what influences students’ own food choices and those of people in different cultures.
View LessonSalad Rap – Part 2
Students create a rap song or chant and dance containing and promoting the components of their favorite salad as well as use chant as a device to remember that plants do not eat and only plants produce food.
View LessonIn Search of Essential Nutrients
Students explore the meaning of essential nutrients, using periodic tables to compare the elements that are essential to people and plants. Students make predictions as to where in the environment plants obtain each of their essential elements.
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