Social Studies: Making Healthy Choices

During the months of October – November CGK Afterschool students have been learning about making healthy choices whether this is related to fitness or what we put into our bodies.

CGK's eight-week-long project works will be based on the main “Driving Question”.

Here are the Driving Questions for this "Social Studies" lesson.

"How can we, as nutrionalist and fitness coaches design a program to help BB Wolf lead a healthier lifestyle and how can we apply what we are learning to our own lifestyle?"

We followed this question with fun lessons each week that drew the student's interest.

Here are the comments of Mr. Dan, the teacher who was in charge of the lessons.

Week 1

Students were introduced to the idea of making healthy choices and asked to brainstormed their ideas surrounding this topic. We watched some videos explaining what happens to your body over time when we eat bad food and don`t exercise. Students then took this knowledge to create their own healthy choices booklet and then working as a group create a class poster to incorporate all of their individual ideas. Students then presented the individual aspects of the group poster to their peers and discussed why they chose what they did.

Week 2

Students were introduced to food groups and why a balanced diet is important. The idea of moderation came up and we explored this together. Students played a game where they had to take preprepared pieces of paper with food items written on them and tape them to the correct food group column against the clock. Students then played an against the clock ball toss / bomb game to cement this knowledge and worked as a team to beat Mr Dan.

Week 3

This week we talked about heart rate and what exercise can mean for the health of your heart over the long term. We watched some videos and discussed this idea. Next, we learned how to find our pulse and measure our heartbeat. Students then proceeded to perform gradually more and more intense exercises and then counting the beats per minute of their heart. Students as learned more information about the importance of a balanced diet and completed some challenging team reading relating to the `my plate` system used by the United States Government in recommending how much of each food group to eat.

Week 4

Week four was a lot of fun and as a team we explored the importance of being aware how much sugar we are consuming. We studied the effects of a sugar rush and the subsequent crash in glucose levels with a little experiment and then we learned to decode the information on food labels that the children has brought to school with them. Students completed a worksheet and discussed their findings with their peers. Next we used snacks I had purchased from an import store so we could decode the English nutritional information together. Having discussed the difference between added sugar and natural sugar we measured out the amount of added sugar from the various snacks into sealed bags. We were aware of the tricks companies pull with nutritional information such as listing the amount of sugar for 100ml portion rather than the actual amount of 1 liter for example so we needed to stay alert and use a calculator to work out the actual amounts present. Working as a team we designed a group poster which required the children to communicate and make decisions democratically.

Week 5, 7, 8

Students were given the task of helping the big bad wolf from the story `Red Riding Hood` to change his unhealthy ways and pursue a new diet and exercise plan. Students formed teams of experts consisting of nutritionists and fitness instructors to advise BB Wolf. After exploring what their new roles meant the students got to work on working through ten challenge cards over the course of three weeks against the clock. Due to missing a Tuesday due to a public holiday students worked really hard to get through a lot of challenging work to complete the full project. The tasks students had to complete in their groups were varied and challenging and included the following…

• Write a letter to BB Wolf expressing positive motivational feelings and advice.
• Each week create a meal plan and exercise schedule for everyday.
• Each week plot BB Wolf`s endurance, bench press, and weight loss progress on a graph.
• Create a poster for BB Wolf to display on his fridge to help him make healthy choices.
• Suggest a healthy meal BB Wolf can cook for guests.
• Come up with ways he could exercise to compensate for his lack of regular running when he injured his leg.
• Write a letter to motivate him to get back on track after a lapse in his diet.
• Create a jazzy and delicious bento box he can take to work.
• Create a flyer for a sport they thought he would be interested in.
• Create a new outfit to reflect the new and improved BB Wolf.
• Having become bored of his food choices create a healthy pizza that will satisfy his cravings.
• Write a cheer to encourage him for the final week before he visits the doctor for his final check up.
• Compile all of the data we have collected to complete the final analysis.

During this project students had to work closely together using their teamwork skills and explain the reasons for the decisions they were making in presentation time also taking questions from their peers.