Healthy Eating & Physical Activity
Brief Description: Students learn about the importance of diet
and exercise with the help of online tips and information from the American
Dietetic Association and the International Food Information Council.
Grade Levels: Grades 3-12 (Using different sites for information)
Equipment/Materials: computer(s) with telecommunications, printer,
optional-projection system
Major Objectives:
- to help students become informed about the importance of eating the
right foods.
- to help students become informed about the importance of exercise.
- to encourage students to think about the importance of good health
habits throughout their lives.
- to show students how to find health-related information online.
- to get students started on a healthy life program.
Before the Lesson: For children in Grades 3-5, check the American Dietetic Association
and the International Food Information Council site to survey the site
before using it with your students. For students above Grade 5, use these
sites: Food Safety and
Nutrition and Lifestyle
Choices & Physical Activity.
Bookmark or capture the site(s) for use in the lesson.
Procedures:
1. Ask your students to take make an accurate (honest) list on paper
or on a computer of what they ate yesterday.
2. Ask your students to add to the list all the exercise they engaged
in yesterday.
3. Tell them to think about their lists and to cross off any foods they
believe they should have avoided. Have them add foods they think they should
have eaten.
4. Ask them to evaluate how much exercise they are getting. They'll
need to think about whether they are getting enough exercise. If they think
they aren't, have them add exercise they WILL DO to the list.
5. Go online with the students as a class with a projection system,
in small groups at computers, or at individual computer stations to the
American Dietetic
Association and the International Food Information Council site for
Grades 3-5 and to Food
Safety and Nutrition and Lifestyle
Choices & Physical Activity for older students.
6. Have the students compare their lists with what this association
and council suggest.
7. After checking the information online, hold a class discussion about
healthy life habits.
8. Ask the students to make a list to use for a week (a list that they
can follow), not one they think you, the teacher, wants. Give them the
assignment to follow this list for the week. Print out the lists if they
are done on computer.
Follow-up: Talk about healthy habits progress each day. At the
end of the week, discuss success or lack of success. Have the students
think about reasons they may have neglected the list or parts of it. Then
ask them to think about what changes would help.
Enhancements/Enrichments: With older students in this age group,
work with the themto find other sites that feature valuable information
on nutrition.
Mathematics Connection for Grades 5 Up: Have students make graphs
of food they eat and the time they spend in moderate and active exercising.
Mathematics Connection for Grades 8-12: Show older students how
to figure out the fat content in what they are eating by using information
on packaging and then doing appropriate calculations. Have them determine
what the packager/manufacturer suggests is a serving and what they consider
a serving. Other calculations can be done with calories, salt content,
etc. Use the graphs and calculations to create class graphs and data.
Suggestions for Parents: These is a good sites for parents and
children to visit and will help parents stress the importance of good nutrition
and appropriate exercise with their children. Good health habits that begin
when children are young have lasting value.
