Lesson 1
The Research
Vocabulary
Calorie: A unit of measure, like and inch or pound. Calories measure the amount of energy your body gets from food.
Body Mass Index (BMI) Is a measure of body fat based on height and weight.
Fat A concentrated form of energy. Fat provides 9 calories per gram, more than twice as much energy as protein and carbohydrate.
Carbohydrate The body's most readily available source of energy. Each gram of carbohydrate provides 4calories of energy.
Protein A major component of all body tissue. Your body needs protein to grow and repair itself, and is also a necessary component of hormones, enzymes and hemoglobin.
Instructional Objective
In this lesson, students will research a minimum of three articles about nutrition and food choices. Articles will be read and evaluated on the Nutrition Article Review Form.
Time Required
A minimum of one fifty-minute class period for researching articles will be required. Teacher will determine, based on needs of students, the amount of time necessary to read and review the required articles. As homework, I usually allow 1 week.
Assessment
You may assign points for this assignment which meet your needs. As a part of the nutrition portfolio, I assign 30 points (10 points per article reviewed)
Procedures/Activities
Connecting Prior Knowledge/Experience/Learning
This lesson begins with a discussion of nutrition I.Q.. I like to bring in five common products and ask students to tell me which one is the worst/best food choice. This usually sparks a lively discussion which leads students to recognizing the need for more accurate nutrition awareness.
Guided Practice
Teacher provides a hot-text (or photocopied) list of possible nutrition related sites for students to find articles to review. (I prefer to keep students focused in their research. However, there is room for flexibility and I allow students to self-select articles they wish to review - internet, book, or magazine). The teacher demonstrates how to complete the review form by having a sample on the overhead or LCD project. Students select three articles to read, review, and complete the form.
Individual Practice/Homework
Students may read articles on line if time allows, download or take photocopies. Students read, review and complete the Review Form for each of their three articles.
Extensions
Many of my students find more than three articles they wish to read and I allow extra credit points for each article reviewed.
Advance Preparation/Prerequisite Knowledge/Skills/Illustrative Materials
Article Review Forms may be copied and given to students, or put on an overhead, or LCD projector for students to copy.
If computer access is limited, teacher may need to download and photocopy articles for students to review.
If students will be doing their own internet research, I recommend the teacher focus their searches by providing a hot-text list of sites (see Web Resources).
