© 2012 Alston Publishing House Pte Ltd ScienceSMART Teacher’s Guide Grade 3Chapter 3 Lesson Plans
Lesson Plans
Chapter 3: Fit For Life
Total number of periods: 16 periods
Overview of Lesson Plans
What Are the Different Food Groups? (6 periods)
Lesson / Specific Instructional Objectives / Cambridge Primary Scientific Enquiry Skills / Process Skills / 21st Century Skills / Number of Periods3.1 / Pupils should:
-know that food can be sorted into different groups
-know that five main food groups include grains, meat, eggs and beans, fruits, vegetables, and dairy products
-- explore the nutrients contained in the foods and their functions / Collect evidence in a variety of contexts to answer questions or test ideas.(Ep1) / Observing
Classifying
Comparing
Contrasting
Analysing
Communicating
Predicting / Be self-directed learners
Reason effectively
Communicate clearly / 6
Why Is a Balanced Diet and Regular Exercise Important? (7 periods)
Lesson / Specific Instructional Objectives / Cambridge Primary Scientific Enquiry Skills / Process Skills / 21st Century Skills / Number of Periods3.2 / Pupils should:
-understand the essence of balanced diet and the ways to maintain it
-be able to describe the importance of balanced diet / Collect evidence in a variety of contexts to answer questions or test ideas.(Ep1)
Observe and compare objects, living things and events.(Eo1)
Make generalisations and begin to identify simple patterns in results.(Eo5) / Analysing
Evaluating / Health literacy
Be self-directed learners
Collaborate with others
Manage projects / 4
3.3 / Pupils should:
-understand the meaning of regular exercise
-be able to describe the importance of regular exercise / Communicating
Organising / Collaborate with others
Interact effectively with others / 3
How Can Some Foods Be Harmful to Our Health? (3 periods)
Lesson / Specific Instructional Objectives / Cambridge Primary Scientific Enquiry Skills / Process Skills / 21st Century Skills / Number of Periods3.4 / Pupils should:
-know consequences of over eating certain kinds of food / Collect evidence in a variety of contexts to answer questions or test ideas.(Ep1)
Observe and compare objects, living things and events.(Eo1)
Make generalisations and begin to identify simple patterns in results. (Eo5) / Measuring
Analysing / Health literacy / 3
Main Lesson Plans
Lesson 3.1
BSCS 5E / Lesson Notes / ResourcesEngage:
Pupils are given questions to stimulate thinking and generate their interest in the new topic
Explore:
Pupils discover new information in real-life situation
Elaborate:
Pupils apply what they have learnt to answer inquiries
Explain:
Pupils are taught correct dietary habits
Evaluate:
Pupils’ understanding is assessed when solving cases
Engage:
Pupils carry out an experiment and test their predictions / Background: Pupils learnt in Grade 3 Chapter 1: Living Things and Their Life Processes that living things undergo life processes such as nutrition, growth and respiration. They are going to learn how foods are involved in these life processes. You may also get pupils to recall what they have learnt in Grade 1 Chapter 2: Healthy Eating, where they were introduced to the different food groups and the idea of a balanced diet. This chapter will cover these concepts in more detail.
Chapter opener
Use the scene in the opener to ask pupils:
- Which of the characters has made a healthier choice? Why? (Answer: Tom, because his meal includes vegetables, and Ari’s meal has too much sweets and fried food with no vegetables or fruit.)
- Can you give any suggestions to help them eat healthier? (Answer: They should order less snacks and order more vegetables and fruit. The grilled chicken can be changed to steamed chicken.)
- How will they feel if they do not eat lunch? (Answer: They may feel hungry and weak. They will not be properly nourished for the day.)
- Are batteries a type of food? What is similar between food for human and batteries for Smarty? (Answer: No, battery is not a type of food because battery cannot be eaten. The battery provides energy to Smarty, similar to food providing energy to humans.)
- All living things need food for survival.
- There are many types of food we can eat, and different types of food can bring different effects to our body. Manyfoodsmay keep us healthy but some others may not.
Emphasise to pupils what their learning journey will be like for this chapter.
- Both a balanced diet and regular exercise are essential for a healthy lifestyle.
- We should eat foods from the different food groups in the right amounts.
What Are the Different Food Groups?
Use the opener to explain that there are various types of food. It is necessary to know what the different food groups are. Just like Tom in the cartoon not being able to find the candy in the correct section of the supermarket, it is important to know the different food groups and the foods classified in them.
Activity:Carry out Build Your Skills! Ask pupils to visit a supermarket with their parents. Remind them to pay special attention to how the food is organised and placed into the different sections.
Ask pupils:
- What are the sections of food in a supermarket? (Answer: Drinks, dairy products, fresh food, snacks, etc. Accept all possible answers.)
- Can you give the names of the food that you can find in these sections? (Answer: There are potato chips in snacks section, milk in dairy products section, etc. Accept all possible answers.)
- Why are they sorted into different sections in a supermarket? (Answer: This is to make it easier for customers to find the items they need.)
- Food can be sorted into groups.
Process Skills:Observing, Classifying, Comparing, Contrasting
Grains; Meat, eggs and beans; Fruits;Vegetables; Dairy products
Before teaching nutrients in different food groups, you may point out that most foods contain more than one nutrient. The nutrients that are going to be introduced are only the major contents in these foods.
Show different foods to the pupils. Ask pupils some questions to stimulate thinking.
- Did you eat these foods yesterday? What have you eaten from each of these groups? (Answer: Accept all possible answers.)
- Which life process change carbohydrate into energy in our body? (Answer: Respiration. Oxygen in breathed-in air reacts with carbohydrates to produce energy.)
- What life processes require energy? (Answer: All kinds of life processes require energy. Growth and movement require most energy.)
- Which nutrient do you think is the most important to our growth? (Answer: Protein is the most important to our growth. This is because protein is essential for providing raw materials for the formation of new cells and tissues, in particular the muscles in our body for maintenance, growth and repair. Carbohydrates are also important as they provide energy for keeping our body temperature constant and for growth.)
- What is the consequence of not having enough vitamins or minerals from food? (Answer: We may suffer from vitamin or mineral deficiency diseases. For example, vitamin A deficiency can cause night blindness, vitamin C deficiency can cause scurvy, iron deficiency can cause anaemia, and calcium and vitamin D deficiency can cause rickets.)
- The five main food groups include the food we eat every day.
- The food should contain nutrients important for providing energy, raw materials for growth and maintaining health.
Grains
The grains group includes any food made from wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, barley and other cereal grains.
Meat, eggs and beans
The meat, eggs and beans group includes all foods made from meat, poultry, seafood, beans and peas, eggs, processed soy products, nuts, and seeds.
Fruits
The fruits group includes any fruit or 100 % fruit juice. The fruits may be fresh, canned, frozen or dried, and may be whole, cut up, blended or pureed.
Vegetables
The vegetables group includes any vegetable or 100 % vegetable juice. The vegetables may be raw, cooked, fresh, frozen, canned or dried, and may be whole, cut up or blended.
Dairy products
The dairy products group includes all fluid milk products and food made from milk.
Teaching Tips:
- Get the pupils involved in class discussion by getting them to suggest the foods that belong in each of the five groups.
- Bring some vitamin or mineral supplement tablets to the class to show to the pupils the variety of vitamins and minerals, and explain their functions.
Tell pupils that they will find out more about how muscles and bones work in Grade 5 Chapter 2: Body Systems: Skeletal-Muscular, Digestive and Nervous.
Common Misconception: Although vitamins are important to our health, the required daily amount of each vitamin is actually very small and excessive intake would not only be a waste but can even have serious harmful effects on health. For example, excessive intake of some vitamins can cause vitamin poisoning.
Teaching Tip: To test whether pupils remember all the food groups and the nutrients they contain, you can make up a story of a boy/girl who is sick and tell the symptoms to the class. For example, the boy may be unable to see clearly at night. Then, ask pupils to determine the nutrient that the boy/girl lacks and suggest what he/she should eat more of in order to get better. As they progress, you can also bring up multiple symptoms at a time to see if pupils can analyse correctly.
21st Century Skill: Reason effectively
Project Idea: Ask pupils to find more information about diseases related to nutrient deficiency through the Internet, and present their findings to the class. You can ask pupils to form groups and assign a nutrient deficiency for each group to research on.
Process Skills: Analysing, Communicating
21st Century Skills: Apply technology effectively; Be self-directed learners; Communicate clearly
Activity: Carry out Experiment Time! to test which foods contain starch and fats. Before the experiment, ask pupils to predict the results based on the food groups the foods belong to. Compare the results with their predictions after the experiment. Explain that a food may contain more than one kind of nutrient.
Process Skills: Observing, Inferring, Analysing, Predicting
21st Century Skill: Make judgements and decisions
Activity: Get pupils to try out an interactive food test on the Internet to find out which foods contain sugar, starch, proteins and fats.
Teaching Tip: You may ask pupils to bring their own food for the test to increase their interest. Remind them not to eat the tested food as the chemicals can be toxic to them. Furthermore, no eating or drinking is allowed in alaboratory.
Field Trip Idea: Arrange for a visit to a fresh food market or supermarket. Show pupils the different kinds of foods. Ask pupils to write a report on what they have learnt about food in this trip.
21stCentury Skill: Make judgements and decisions / Textbook page 51
Textbook page 52
Textbook page 53
Textbook page 53
Textbook pages 54—55
URL 3.1
URL 3.2
Textbook page 56
URL 3.3
Textbook pages 56—57
URL 3.4
Workbook pages 41—42
Activity 1: Foods for Health
Workbook page 54
Worksheet 1: Calcium Craze!
Consolidation Worksheet 1
Internet links for Lesson 3.1
URL 3.1: Examples and gallery of foods in different food groups
URL 3.2:Information of vitamins and minerals (corresponds to Internet Link 3.1 in Textbook)
URL 3.3:Introduction to malnutrition
URL 3.4:Interactive: Food tests for starch, proteins, sugars and fats (corresponds to Internet Link 3.2 in Textbook)
Lesson 3.2
BSCS 5E / Lesson Notes / ResourcesEngage:
Pupils are given an interesting idea to think about by
connecting their pets’ situation with themselves
Explain:
Pupils learn the
correct concept
and clear
misconceptions
Explore:
Pupils learn more about new concepts by going
through different
scenarios
Elaborate:
Pupils apply what they have learnt to real life
Evaluate:
Pupils use what
they have learnt
to gauge their own eating habits
Explore:
Pupils develop their inquiry skills by doing research
Explain:
Pupils present the research data and
interpret it based on their knowledge / Why Is a Balanced Diet and Regular Exercise Important?
This website from World Health Organisation gives a basic idea of what a healthy lifestyle is.
Activity: Ask pupils if they have any pets. If they do, ask pupils:
•How do you feed your pets to keep them healthy?
•Are there any foods that your pets should be avoiding totally or taking less of?
•What happens if your pets eat too much or too little?
•How often do you bring your pets out for exercise?
•What do you think of the importance of exercise to your pets?
•As a summary, what are the key points to keep a pet healthy?
After discussing these questions, draw parallels between the needs of humans and pets.
Teaching Tip: Use the scene in the cartoon in the section opener to introduce the concept of balanced diet.
Ask pupils:
•What are Ari’s favourite foods? (Answer: Chicken, sausages and ham)
•What food group or groups do they belong to? (Answer: They all belong to the meat, eggs and beans group.)
•Do you think Ari has a balanced diet? (Answer: No, because he eats food from only one food group.)
Tell pupils that they are going to learn how to help Ari achieve a healthy balanced diet.
Balanced diet
Relate to the cartoon in the section opener.
Ask pupils:
•In what way is Ari’s concept of balanced diet wrong?
Explain that:
•Ari is balancing the weight of the food while carrying them. This is the wrong concept. A balanced diet is eating foods from all the food groups in the correct proportions.
• Good nutrition is essential to maintain good health.
• MyPlate is a plan of a meal which guides us to a balanced diet.
• Eating too little or too much is not good for our health.
Activity: Get pupils to do an Internet search to find out more about MyPlate, how it is used and how it compares to the Food Pyramid. In what way is MyPlate more effective and easier to be used as a reference?
21st Century Skills: Apply technology effectively; Be self-directed learners; Reason effectively; Use systems thinking
Go through the three situations where Ari eats too little, just the right amount and too much of the different types of foods.
Too little!
Ask pupils:
•What happens to Ari when he eats too little of the different types of foods? (Answer: He feels tired and he is skinny with weak muscles and bleeding gums when he eats too little.)
•What food groups are missing in this meal? (Answer: Meat, eggs and beans and dairy products are missing in this meal.)
•What should Ari do to improve his diet? (Answer: He should eat the right amounts of food from the different food groups as shown in MyPlate in order to obtain sufficient nutrients.)
Just right!
Ask pupils:
•What happens to Ari when he eats just the right amount of the different types of foods? (Answer: He feels active and energetic and has healthy teeth and muscular arms when he eats just the right amount.)
•What food groups does this meal have? (Answer: It has all five main food groups: grains, meat, eggs and beans, fruits, vegetables and dairy products.)
Too much!
Ask pupils:
•What happens to Ari when he eats too much of certain types of foods? (Answer: He has bad skin, unhealthy teeth and a bulging tummy when he eats too much.)
•Why is this meal unhealthy? (Answer: It is unhealthy because it has too much oily and sugary foods.)
You can sum up the concept of balanced diet with a discussion using the following inquiry questions. Encourage pupils to contribute answers and opinions.
Ask pupils:
•We all know that eating vegetables and fruits is good for our health. However, if you eat only vegetables for each meal, is it a healthy diet? (Answer: No. Vegatables do not contain enough carbohydrates and proteins to provide energy and support our growth.)
•As introduced previously, oils, fats and sugary foods are another food group. Why are they not included in MyPlate? (Answer: This is because we need only a very small amount of this food group in our meal. We usually use oil when we cook food and meats usually contain fats, so there is no need to add them into MyPlate.)
•To stay healthy, how much food should we eat for each meal? How can we control the amount of food we eat? (Answer: We should stop eating when we feel satisfied, not when we are completely full. To control the amount we eat, we should eat at regular times and eat slowly.)
Teaching Tip: Use Internet resources to help pupils find out the amount of each food group they need daily. There is also a tool to find the energy value of foods so pupils can compare which food is healthier for them. Remind pupils that food requirements are different for different sexes, ages and types of job.
Project Idea: Encourage pupils to start keeping a food diary. Get them to note down everything they eat every day. You can get pupils to draw their own table or spreadsheet using software such as Microsoft Excel. By keeping a food diary and studying their eating habits, pupils can see if they have eaten too much or too little of certain foods, and think of necessary steps to improve their diet. You can give prizes to pupils who have healthy eating habits as an encouragement and motivation to other pupils.
21st Century Skills: Health literacy; Be self-directed learners
Activity: Carry out Build Your Skills! Remind pupils that foods with too much fats are unhealthy. If the fat amounts of the foods are about the same, pupils should compare their energy value to see which one is healthier. The food with the higher energy value indicates that we can get fat more easily when we eat this food, so it is likely to be an unhealthy choice.
Teaching Tip: You can ask pupils to bring the packaging of their favourite food items to school. Get them to study and compare the facts in the nutritional labels of the different food items with their classmates. Then ask pupils which foods are healthier and why. It is better to ask pupils to bring foods from the same food group (e.g. suggest foods such as peanut butter or drinks) so that it would be easier to compare their nutrition values.
Explain that:
•Nutritional labels can be found in most food packaging.
•Understanding the nutritional labels helps us to make wise food choices.
•The serving size and number of servings shows how much of the food the package contains and they are what the nutritional value is based on.
•The labels list the nutrients that are present in significant amounts in the food items.
•The percentage daily value can give an idea of how the food item will fit into our daily energy needs. Note that this value is based on adults, so it may not be accurate for children.
Teaching Strategy: Relating to real life
21stCentury Skill: Health literacy
Project Idea: Ask pupils to conduct a research survey on the dietary needs of people of different ages (e.g. infants, elderly) and people with special needs (e.g. pregnant, diabetic). Then, pupils should analyse how their dietary needs are different and whether they are having a balanced diet. Pupils can present their data in a chart or other visual form to show the results clearly.
Ask pupils:
•Why are there differences in the dietary needs between different people? (Answer: Answer varies depending on the result data from the survey. In general, the young need more nutrients for growth so they may eat more than the elderly. For diabetics, they have to control their blood glucose level so they cannot eat too much food with sugar.)
Process Skills: Comparing, Organising, Analysing
21stCentury Skills: Apply technology effectively; Collaborate with others; Manage projects / Textbook page 58
URL 3.5
Textbook page 59
Textbook page 60
URLs 3.6, 3.7
Textbook page 61
Workbook pages 43—45
Activity 2: What’s on Your Plate?
Workbook page 47
Activity 3: Sandwich for Health!
Workbook page 55
Worksheet 2: Eating Right!
Internet links for Lesson 3.2