What’s on your plate?

This is an evaluation project for a science and/or Health unit of study on the basic food group, good nutrition and food sources or proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals.

The purpose of this activity is for the students to review and demonstrate their understanding of the need for balanced meals and an understanding of the food sources for proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals, and vitamins.

Materials

Newspaper Food Advertisements / Graph Paper / Pencils
Paper Plates / 2 Paper Chains. One long and one short.

Review the four food groups and review sources of proteins, carbohydrate, fats, vitamins and minerals.

1)Introduction Carbohydrates activity

Activity: Make a carbohydrate chain. Just like the paper chains you make to count down Christmas, cut strips of construction paper to represent sugar molecules. A Simple carbohydrate will have only one or two saccharides (or sugar molecules). Some simple carbohydrates become that way because someone in a food processing plant already took apart the chain for you so your body doesn’t have to do it. Complex Carbohydrates will have many saccharides. These foods come straight from the ground and take longer to take apart because your body does all the work…which is a good thing. They can make a very long chain to represent a complex carbohydrate.

Ask: Which chain will give you more energy? The complex carbs with its long chain can last longer in your body. Break off chains one by one slowly to represent little bursts of energy to you, as opposed to one chain, one burst of energy and then you are hungry again.

Can you think of some examples of proteins?

2)Activity Directions

  1. Review and read through food group resource guide. Make a list on the board of additional food ideas for each of the four food groups.
  2. Ask the children to break up into groups of three or four.
  3. Using paper plates and newspaper food advertisements develop four different dinner meal ideas.
  4. Cut out pictures in newspaper advertisements and glue them onto the plate.
  5. Ask one group member from each group to share their meal ideas and why they selected each food item.
  6. Next calculate the price for each meal based on a family of four. Write the price next to each food item and add up the total for each meal.
  7. Last, create a bar graph for each of the prices to share with the class.

Discussion questions

Why is it important to have a balanced diet?

What is the most expensive?

Careers in food science:

Clinical dietician

Provide nutritional services for patients in institutions.

Community dietician

Counsel individuals and groups on nutritional practices.

Management dietician

Oversee large-scale meal planning and preparation.

Dietetic Technician

Work with a dietician to assist and implement nutritional programs.

Health educator

Provide information to communities and people to maintain, promote, and improve healthy lifestyles.

Natural health therapist

Help patients restore balance to their health by using special diets, herbal remedies, and acupuncture.

Consultant Dietician

Work under contract or in private practice.

Agricultural Engineering

Agricultural engineers will never be at a loss for career choices because the number of industries that require their skills is vast.

Here are just a few examples: farm equipment manufacturers such as John Deere, International and Harvester; seed companies such as Pioneer Hi-Bred and Monsanto); food producers such as Kraft and Kellogg's; environmental engineering firms such as Mock Roos and Associates; and forest product companies like Weyerhaeuser.

Agricultural engineering isn't limited to planet Earth. NASA uses agricultural engineers to develop systems to grow food in space. One NASA project is developing hydroponic techniques the science of growing food in water without soil that will keep some future human colony on Mars well-fed.

Agricultural engineers are experts in biosystems, so many specialize in finding ways to protect the environment. Some, for example, work to conserve supplies of fresh water, while others develop methods to safeguard the Earth from pollution, including chemical or nutrient runoff from farms. Agricultural engineers are also involved in developing biofuels from algae – that right, pond scum -- a process that doesn’t need arable land, which is put to better use growing food crops.

Agricultural engineers will never be at a loss for career choices -- the number of industries that require their skills is vast. Here are just a few examples:

Farm equipment manufacturers (John Deere, International Harvester);

Seed companies (Pioneer Hi-Bred, Monsanto);

Food producers (Kraft, Kellogg's);

Environmental engineering firms (Mock Roos and Associates);

Forest product companies (Weyerhaeuser).