March 2, 2000

Subject: Nutrition
Grade Level: 4
Brief Description: Students will discuss and practice ways to wisely apply knowledge about proper nutrition.
Objective: To explore and practice ways of applying knowledge about proper nutrition, to develop a sense of personal control over one’s actions.
Key concepts: Food pyramid, self-control to reach goals.
Material needed:  Porky Pig video, VCR/TV, serving trays, selection of candy bars, donuts, crackers, potato chips, pretzels, raw vegetables, cheese and cut fruit.

Lesson Plan:

Anticipatory set:
 Introduction: “Yesterday we learned about what types of food and how many servings of each we need to eat every day in order to be healthy. So now we know what to eat, but a lot of times, even though we know what we should eat, what we want to eat, and what we end up eating, are different. Today we’re going to practice applying the information about the food pyramid that we learned yesterday. But first we’re going to watch this little video about Porky Pig.”
 Watch the Warner Brothers Cartoon. Synopsis: Porky Pig realizes that the farmer wants to make an Easter ham out of him, so he stops eating and becomes really skinny. The farmer hooks Porky up to a machine that has his arms and legs strapped down, and his mouth wired to a lever that forces him to chew. The machine forces Porky to eat the equivalent of 10 Thanksgiving dinners, and eventually Porky is nice and fat.

Lesson:
 “Poor Porky. Have any of you ever had something like that happen to you? I hope not, but we often find ourselves in situations where we feel like we have to eat. Can any of you think of some?”
Students give examples of social situations where it is expected to eat-birthdays, weddings, dinner parties, etc.
 “Let’s try something. Everybody open your mouth. Close your mouth. Chew. Swallow. Now make your neighbor open his or her mouth, but don’t touch him or her. Now make your neighbor chew and swallow, still without touching him or her. Can you do it? It’s pretty hard, isn’t it? Can anybody think of a situation where somebody might really have to force a person to eat?”
Students might talk about intubation or IV feeding at a hospital for someone who is in a coma or has a broken jaw, or they might mention anorexia/bulimia patients.
“Well, at least for the most part, we are really in control of what we eat, no one is actually forcing us to put things in our mouths. So why don’t we always eat right? We know all about the food pyramid, right? What’s going on in our heads?”
Go back to discussion about social eating. Elicit from students things that hosts/hostesses say when offering guests food. Write on board.
 “Now, sometimes its okay to eat sweets and fatty foods, after all, they aren’t absent from the food pyramid, they are just at the top, where it says, ‘Eat less.’ So if you really like chocolate chip cookies, and your Aunt Esther offers you some, its okay to eat a few. Should you eat sixteen of them? No, probably not, although sometimes you might like to. Often, your host or hostess will ask you, ‘Would you like some more? Please, help yourself.’ What can we say to be polite, but not be forced to eat more than we should?”
Students offer suggestions like: “No thank you, I’m full. Oh, I couldn’t possibly. I’m watching what I eat. Thanks, but no thanks. I’m saving my appetite for dinner.” Etc. Write them on the board.
 “Now I’d like you to practice with your partner saying these things. First, one will be the host or hostess and the other the guest, then switch.”
Students practice.
 “Now, a lot of times, there will be an assortment of different things to eat at a party. How could we use our knowledge of the food pyramid and the daily recommended servings to eat better at a party?”
Students discuss choosing foods from a snack assortment that are better than others, i.e. pretzels vs. potato chips, raw vegetables vs. candy bars, cheese cubes vs. fried cheese curds. Hopefully we will discuss the opportunity students have to bring healthy snacks to parties that they go to in the future.
  “Finally, remember that only you can make yourself eat something. You can also use your will power to choose not to eat something, even if you would like to. If you asked me to go to the bathroom, and I said, ‘No, you have to wait five minutes,’ do you think you could do that? Sure you could. You’d use your will power. You can do the same thing with food. We all have to eat, but we don’t have to eat things that we know are bad for us. Have any of you ever done something like that?”
Students discuss use of will power.
 “Now, I suppose that you have been wondering what is under these boxes on the two front tables up here, haven’t you? Can anybody guess?”
Students try to guess for a minute. Teacher uncovers the tables, there are platters with snack assortments on them, some healthy, some not healthy.
 “What we’re going to do is practice making good choices about food, and practice politely refusing food that is offered to you. When I say go, you will get in your work groups (set groups of 4 – 5 students) and send one person up to the tables to get a platter of food to bring back to your table. Then one person will be the host or hostess and offer the others food. You may say yes or no, but try to use the knowledge we’ve learned about nutrition to make smart choices. Remember to use your will power to resist eating all of the cookies. Then switch until everyone has been the host or hostess. After that, your group can eat all the food on your platter. Any questions? Good, go.”

Assessment: Teacher walks around room with checklist, observing students doing the activity and checking off for choice of food, politeness, and use of will power.

Homework: Write in your writing journal the answer to these questions.

1. What did you eat in the exercise?
2. What decisions did you make about what to eat?
3. How did you feel when you refused the host or hostess’ offer of food?
4. How did you feel when you were the host or hostess and somebody refused your offer of food?
5. How did you feel when you used your will power to decide not to eat something?
6. How did you feel when you knew you probably shouldn’t eat something, but you ate it anyway?