Lesson Plan: Nutrition and Sports

Introduction to theme:

  • Ask students: What big sports event is happening this summer?

Hopefully some students will mention the Olympics.

Tell students that this summer we will be studying sports and how science relates to sports.

  • Mention that we will be studying muscles, balls, sailing, how our lungs work, and today, nutrition
  • There will be seven weeks total and an end of quarter surprise event for the students who come every week- so we will be taking attendance starting next week.

Introductions to nutrition:

  • Several tutors each hold up a picture of an athlete.
  • Praj asks the class ‘What do these people have in common?’
  • Praj individually comments on answers (i.e. they work out, they are in shape, they are athletic, they are fast, strong etc.)
  • Praj asks the class ‘How did they get to be in such good shape?’
  • Collect answers- hopefully ONE of them will be how they eat.

Introduce calories:

  • Praj asks Why do athletes and people in general need to eat?
  • Praj will comment on the various answers that ensue, but will focus on the answer that food gives us ENERGY. We need energy to run, play, live, etc.
  • How do we know how much energy is in food?
  • Again collect answers. If NO ONE says anything about calories ask
  • Pick a student from the group. Ask this student what they would eat for breakfast if they were going to have to run the mile in gym class that day.
  • A bowl of cereal, banana, and glass of OJ
  • 5 carrot sticks

Mention that different amounts of food and different types of food have different amounts of energy. The full breakfast has more energy than 5 carrot sticks and a student who eats this won’t get hungry and will be able to run a faster mile!

We measure the amount of energy a food has in Calories.

  • Ask if any students knows what a calorie is?
  • Give definition on board. 1 food Calorie is 1,000 little calories. A little calorie is the amount of energy needed to raise one milliliter of water one degree Celcius in temperature.
  • (the above is a hard concept- it may make sense to have a separate lesson with calorimeters. In the meantime, this lesson will stress that different foods have different amounts of energy and food is what makes us GO)
  • One tutor will put the following list on the board. Praj will ask the class which of the following foods has the most energy, and therefore the most Calories.
  • Hamburger / Salad
  • Carrots / Tacos
  • Glass of water/ Glass of milk
  • If Calories are energy and we want more energy, why don’t we just eat as much as we possibly can?
  • We only need a certain amount of energy. If we eat too much the energy turns into fat, if we eat too little we will be tired and weak.

FOOD GROUPS

  • It’s not enough just to have calories, we need different TYPES of calories.
  • Tutor puts up picture of Arnold. What does Arnold need to eat to build all those muscles? (Steak, chicken, eggs etc..) All these foods have protein.
  • Tutor puts up a picture of Lance Armstrong. What does Lance need to complete long bike races? (pasta, bread, etc) All these foods are high in carbohydrates
  • Tutor puts up a picture of a gymnast. What does a gymnast need to keep her bones from breaking during all the somersaults, etc? Calcium, which can be found in dairy foods.
  • Tutors put up pictures of several athletes- What else do athletes need to stay healthy. Vitamins and minerals found in fruits and vegetables.

At this point the 5 food groups will be on the board. Praj says that today we will do an activity that tells us how many calories we need and how much

Meats

Grains

Vegetables

Fruits

Dairy

we need to stay healthy.

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Worksheets and food cards are handed out and now tutors work one on one to plan meals.

-For tutors, additionally we will provide the following aids for individual questions.

  • Nutrition labels
  • Conversion charges (grams, cups, ounces)
  • Sample serving sizes
  • 1 oz of chips
  • ½ cup of cooked rice
  • ½ cup cauliflower
  • Measuring cups and spoons
  • Have students group foods by meal items. First breakfast, then lunch, etc. Some items will have to be used more than once (e.g. milk.)