Out-of-School Time Resource Center
Nutrition and Physical Activity
Emerging nutritionists explore what it means to be healthy. In the beginning of the unit, your class will examine the five food groups and learn how food gets from the farm to our plates. This leads into the investigation of the...
Agriculture in the Classroom
Making Half MyPlate Fruits and Vegetables
Establish healthy eating habits with a lesson focused around MyPlate's food recommendations and the importance of eating fruits and vegetables. Through class discussion and worksheet completion, scholars discuss the best choices of foods...
Curated OER
Lab Experiments in Nutrition
Looking for authentic hands-on nutritional experiments? High schoolers will perform experiments to test for the presence of vitamin C in several solutions as well as the effect of caffeine on Daphnia. They will also consider the...
Curated OER
Food Wars
Students investigate the debate whether schools should regulate the amount or type of food and drink students consume. They write and present position papers after reading an online NY Times article.
Curated OER
Digestion and Nutrition
Debunk the theory that a soda-and-candy diet is a nutritionally sound concept! Learners first read 2 paragraphs of background information covering essential nutrients, digestion, and homeostasis. Then, they use the information they...
Curated OER
Nutrition: How Much Fat Am I Eating?
How much fat is in this? Scholars first read some background information on the caloric content of fats versus carbohydrates, and then use that knowledge to analyze foods they regularly eat. They will look at 5 package labels for the...
Curated OER
Food Pyramid-Planning a Healthy Meal
Young scholars identify the five basic food groups. They use their knowledge of the food pyramid to plan a full meal that incorporates at least one serving of food from each group. Pupils classify their ingredients according to the food...
Curated OER
Fortified Breakfast
Students reverse engineer a cereal. In this dietary instructional activity students identify the minerals that the human body needs to function. Students examine how foods are fortified by food engineers. Students find the amount of iron...
Curated OER
Where Does It Come From?
Do you or your learners know where apples or potato chips come from? If not, you will after this lesson. To explore careers in agriculture, learners first examine the importance of agriculture to our nation. They view several movies...
Curated OER
America's Heartland: Step-By-Step Lesson Guide
An excellent resource gets kids looking at agricultural production to better understand the careers needed in distributing foods from the farm to the consumer. Book, poster, web, and video links are included for teacher use. There is...
Curated OER
The Science and Technology of Food
Learners examine the guidelines the United States Department of Agriculture places on food. In groups, they create a list of the foods they consume and discuss the political and environmental implications of purchasing the food. They...
Curated OER
Testing Fats in Food
Middle schoolers consider the fats found in foods. For this science lesson plan, students test the presence of fat in foods and become more aware of their daily diets.
Curated OER
Coffee & Chocolate: Knowing Healthy Foods
An article relaying vital information about health and nutrition are the backbone of this activity on eating the right foods. A series of activities are used to help upper graders understand the science supporting our understanding of...
Curated OER
Food Math
Students brainstorm healthy food choices. In this health science lesson, students calculate how much of each food group they need daily. They plan a menu based on the "MyPyramid for Kids" food guide.
Baylor College
They're Everywhere: Bacteria
Totally gross out your class with the eighth instructional activity in this series on food science. Explore the microscopic world of bacteria by taking swabs of different classroom objects and growing colonies in petri dishes. An...
Curated OER
Nutrition
Seventh graders investigate nutrition and nutrients. In this nutrition or diet lesson, groups of students create a poster, commercial, or skit about a nutriet which will be presented or performed to the rest of the class after...
Curated OER
My Favorite Breakfast Foods
First graders consider the importance eating breakfast. In this breakfast foods instructional activity, 1st graders plan meals, examine a variety of breakfast options, and discuss the food groups. Students taste a variety of foods....
Curated OER
Eating the Rainbow: A Student's Guide to Healthy Foods That Grow
Third graders examine the nutritional value of different foods. In this health science lesson, 3rd graders create a daily log of the foods they eat and categorize them. They plan a healthy menu for their family.
Curated OER
Food Pyramid and Dietary Guidelines
Students examine Food Guide Pyramid and Dietary Guidelines. They look at samples of serving sizes, sort different foods into their correct groups, complete worksheets to discover which types of foods they eat regularly, and discuss...
Curated OER
Calories and Nutrition
For this calories worksheet, students use a chart comparing the calories found in different food items to complete 3 short answer questions.
Curated OER
Eating the Food Pyramid
Students explore the concept of the Food Guide Pyramid. In this nutrition lesson, students discuss healthy eating habits after reading the book entitled Gregory, the Terrible Eater. Students then work in groups finding pictures of the...
Curated OER
Life Science: My Pyramid
Students examine how the school food program compares to the food pyramid recommendations. In this food pyramid instructional activity, students compile data regarding the food choices available in the school through the lunch program...
Curated OER
Gathering, Traditions, and Nutrition of Our Food
Students gain a better understanding of what it means to eat seasonally through learning about traditional hunting, gathering, and food preparation methods of Athabascan tribes. By interacting with Native American Elders and...
Curated OER
Food & Science - How Healthy is Your Diet?
Learners experiment with various foods to determine fat and starch content. They rub jam, peanut butter, bananas, and other foods in a small circle on a piece of paper, and observe the results. If there is a high fat content in the...