Nutrition To Grow On-Upper Elementary

Goals:

• To gain the knowledge and skills needed to make healthy food choices.
• To gain a greater appreciation of the land that provides the food.

Designed to be:

Enjoyable-in this curriculum the student is continually stimulated in an interactive environment.
Simple-the curriculum minimizes preparation time. Few materials have to be gathered or prepared prior to each activity, and detailed background information is provided.
Interactive-each lesson is integrated with the published State Content Standards.
Adaptive-teachers are encouraged to adapt the curriculum to their own classroom setting.

Lessons:

Introduction to Nutrition and Gardening-covers the origin of food, the requirements of living things, and plant parts.
Nutrients We Need-cover the definition and classes of nutrients, and why the human body needs them.
MyPyramid-presents the food groups and the nutrients they contribute to the human body.
Serving Sizes-identifies the serving sizes recommended by MyPyramid.gov and the visual cues students can use to estimate food portions.
Food Labels-explains the various items on the Nutrition Facts Label so that students can analyze and compare the nutritional value of foods.
Get Physically Active-covers the importance of physical activity to the heart and the relationship between the food children eat and their health and well-being.
Goal Setting-shows children how to incorporate some dietary guidelines into daily activities and how to set goals for healthy dietary habits.
Consumerism-identifies the techniques used by companies to sell food products, helping children bcome aware of how advertisements influence food choices.
Making Healthy Snacks-shows children how to make low-fat healthy snacks.

The appendices provide written quizzes, web sites, and a list of companies and organizations the promote nutrition education.

This curriculum was tested on a variety of students in grades 3 through 6. After receiving comments from both teachers and students, it was revised and retested until both content and delivery were satisfactory.

Final results were formally evaluated in nine seperate classrooms of 4th graders. On examination of the results, the authors found that students participating in the Nutrition To Grow On curriculum significantly improved their knowledge of nutrition and preference for vegetables. That finding is encouraging because preferences for vegetables are a known predictor of healthy dietary habits that may last a lifetime.