Health & Nutrition Lesson Plans - Nutrition Unit

Nutrition Unit

One thing I love to do in my nutrition unit is to get some Nutrition Charts from a restaurant like McDonald's. Without showing the charts to my class, I tell the kids to write down what they would order if I took them to McDonald's and they could order whatever they wanted. I tell them to be reasonable and only order what they would really eat, but other than that I don't restrict it. Then I have them look up the calories, fat grams, and milligrams of sodium in each item. They have to list the information in a little chart they draw in their journals. They add up the numbers to find the TOTAL calories, fat grams, and milligrams of salt in the meal. You should see their faces when they start adding it up! Then I have them try to plan a more nutritious meal at McDonald's. They realize that portion sizes are important - you can order a small fries if you have a craving for fries - you don't have to super size it! You could also do this activity with breakfast items.

Here's a great web site for kids dealing with nutrition: www.kidsfood.org
Submitted by: Laura Candler candlers@email-removed

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