Healthy Eating and
Physical Activity
Grade 4 Health Unit
©2015 Nana Fran’s
Teaching Resources
This Grade 4 Health teaching resource offers an in-­‐depth coverage of all the indicators for the outcome USC4.1: Assess what healthy ea2ng and physical ac2vity mean for pre-­‐
adolescence. Although it has been wri=en to meet the outcome and indicators for the Saskatchewan Health curriculum, it will meet the needs of educators teaching students about how healthy eaBng and physical acBvity impacts their lives. Lessons are presented in the order of the indicators: a. Examine personal, past and present, knowledge about healthy ea2ng and physical ac2vity (exercise is important to health, trends such as jogging and home gyms, females and exercise/sports) b. Inves2gate personal, family, community and cultural factors that influence healthy ea2ng (2me, serving size, cultural food prac2ces and values, water consump2on, access to healthy foods) c. Discuss factors of healthy ea2ng over which one has control (drinking more water) d. Explain the importance of par2cular ea2ng prac2ces including drinking water as a thirst quencher and ea2ng breakfast e. Demonstrate an understanding of healthy food choices (analyze nutri2onal values of par2cular foods) and serving sizes that support good health (Canada’s Food Guide) f. Inves2gate personal, family, community and cultural factors that influence physical ac2vity (2me, cultural prac2ces and values, access, safety) g. Review the health benefits of regular physical ac2vity and the health risks of inac2vity for pre-­‐adolescence h. Inves2gate peer norms and popular trends related to healthy ea2ng and physical ac2vity i. Explore the consequences (both posi2ve and nega2ve) of following or resis2ng peer norms and/or popular trends related to ea2ng and physical ac2vity j. Inves2gate the physical ac2vity opportuni2es in the community that benefit and/
or challenge mental , socio-­‐emo2onal, and spiritual well-­‐being for pre-­‐adolescence (develop personal giSs, and poten2al) k. Inves2gate personal changes that need to be made for beTer nutri2on (serving sizes, variety of foods) and appropriate amounts of physical ac2vity (Canada’s Guide to Physical Ac2vity) About this unit: You should read a picture book to introduce every lesson in this unit. The book should be connected in some way with the concept of the lesson. There is a suggested list with the first twoindicators. a. Examine personal, past and present, knowledge about healthy ea2ng and physical ac2vity (exercise is important to health, trends such as jogging and home gyms, females and exercise/sports) It will probably take quite a few Health lessons to complete this indicator. Read a picture book to the class about children engaging in physical acBvity. Some suggesBons are: Wallie’s Exercises by Steve EZnger I.Q. Gets Fit by Mary Ann Fraser Dudley, The LiTle Terrier That Could by Stephen Green-­‐Armytage Ask students what types of physical acBviBes they do every day. Ask about the physical acBvity they do when they go home from school. Make a list of these acBviBes on chart paper. Ask why it is important that everyone engages in physical acBvity. Tell the students that at their age, it is very important for them to be acBve in order to develop healthy bones and muscles. Make a list of healthy physical acBviBes that the students do both at home and at school. Have students choose three of these acBviBes to complete the sheet on page 8. They write the acBviBes they enjoy and draw pictures of themselves doing these acBviBes. Discuss unhealthy pracBces of not being acBve. Ask students to name some things they do that are really not healthy for them. Ask them if there are ways they can balance these acBviBes, which they enjoy but are not healthy, and to be as acBve as possible. Ask students if any of them have any fitness equipment at home, such as exercise bikes, treadmills, etc. Ask if they are allowed to use this equipment. Discuss safety using such pieces of fitness equipment. Discuss the fact that parents know the value of being physically acBve and therefore have equipment at home, they go for walks and go to the gym. Talk about physical acBviBes the students do with their families. Have students name physical acBviBes that they do as a family and have them draw pictures of them and their families engaging in some of these acBviBes. Name _____________________________ Three healthy physical acBviBes I enjoy are: Here are pictures of me doing these acBviBes: Date _____________________ Compare the physical acBviBes of today with those of the past. Refer to First NaBons people that lived in Saskatchewan before any Europeans arrived. Ask students about the physical acBviBes the men, women and children took part in. Record their answers. Ask how these are different from what they do today. Complete Venn diagram comparing children’s ac2vi2es then and now – page 10 Ask students to interview their parents and grandparents to find out what physical acBviBes they enjoyed as children. Create a class list when students return to class with the informaBon. If you wish you can repeat the Venn diagram acBvity comparing parents/grandparents’ acBviBes to their own. Repeat these two acBviBes comparing the foods that early First NaBons people ate, as well as parents and grandparents. Change the subject to healthy eaBng. Ask what foods they bring for lunch and recess snacks. Are these healthy or unhealthy? Make a list of healthy foods with the class and another list of unhealthy foods. Which ones are their favorites? Students complete page 12 in which they choose five favorite foods from the list and tell whether they are healthy or unhealthy foods. Name _____________________________ Date _____________________ Choose five foods from the class lists. Draw a picture of each of these foods and tell whether the foods are healthy or unhealthy for you. b. Inves2gate personal, family, community and cultural factors that influence healthy ea2ng (2me, serving size, cultural food prac2ces and values, water consump2on, access to healthy foods) Read a picture book about healthy eaBng to the class. Some suggesBons are: Gregory the Terrible Eater by Mitchell Sharmat I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato by Layren Child How Did That Get in My Lunchbox by Chris BuTerworth The Boy Who Loved Broccoli by Sarah A. Creighton Tyler Makes SpagheZ by Tyler Florence The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman The Peanut Pickle by Jessica Jacobs The Goat Who Ate Everything by John Montgomery Ask students what they would eat if they could eat whenever and whatever they wanted. Ask them why parents don’t let them do that? At what Bme do you eat dinner every evening? Why do you think that you don’t eat dinner at 9:00 or 10:00 in the night? Discuss the answers to these quesBons with students. Ask why they don’t have chicken, potatoes and gravy for breakfast. Bring in the concept of Bme being a factor in what you eat. Also tell the students that it is be=er to take Bme to sit and eat rather than eat on the run or in a hurry. The Peanut Pickle is an excellent book to introduce the topic of food allergies. Being allergic to certain foods is a very influenBal factor in affecBng healthy eaBng for some people. Culture also plays a part in the food choices we make. Ask the students if they have any family gatherings at which there is a lot of food and drink. Give them Bme to talk about such occasions and the different types of food they have an opportunity to enjoy. Ask how many students drink water every day. Explain that water is essenBal to our bodies and that it is important to make sure you drink enough water every day. Review the list of healthy foods that the class made for Indicator a. Ask how many of these choices are easy to get all year round. For example, how are we able to get fresh fruits and vegetables in the middle of winter? Serving size will be addressed in Indicator c. c. Discuss factors of healthy ea2ng over which one has control (drinking more water) For this lesson you will need to bring some items into class. Print off a copy of Ea#ng Well With Canada’s Food Guide for each student. The following link is for the printer friendly version: h=p://www.hc-­‐sc.gc.ca/fn-­‐an/alt_formats/hp^-­‐dgpsa/pdf/food-­‐guide-­‐aliment/
print_eatwell_bienmang-­‐eng.pdf You will need: Cereal Bowl Measuring cup Glasses Spoons Different size plates (this can be paper plates) The amount you eat can be healthy or unhealthy. SomeBmes people eat too much of food they like and then they get sick or have a stomachache. EaBng too much fa=y food can also lead to weight gain. (This is a subject on which you do have to be careful, if there are any overweight children in the class and they may be self-­‐conscious of their weight.) Ask students how they know when they have had too much to eat. How do they know if they have eaten too much? How do they know when they need to eat? Explain that Health Canada has guidelines to help us know how much a serving of food is. Show the Canada Food Guide. Show students the measuring cup, cereal and bowl. Tell them that you want to know how much cereal they should have in a bowl to equal a serving. To do this, they will tell you when to stop pouring the cereal into the bowl. When they tell you to stop, measure the bowl of cereal into the measuring cup. The guidelines for a serving of cereal is one cup. Show this to the students and compare it with the amount they told you to pour into the bowl. Review the serving sizes of different foods from the chart. Use the measuring cup, glass or plate size to show students what the recommended serving size is. Do they eat more or less than this amount? Point out the recommended amount of water that they should drink each day. Ask if they think they drink enough water. Have students use the chart of foods and serving sizes to plan their meals for a day. Tell them that they have to make sure they have the recommended amounts per day for their age. Name _________________________________ Date _________________ Complete the chart about food groups and servings they should have every day Food group Number of Servings Serving Size ½ cup baby carrots ½ bagel ¾ cup yogurt ¾ cup oatmeal 100 grams of cheese 30 ml peanut bu=er 1 slice of bread 1 cup of raw vegetables 2.5 ounces of chicken Answer sheet Serving Size Food group Number of Servings ½ cup baby carrots Vegetables and fruit 6 ½ bagel Grain products 6 ¾ cup yogurt Milk 3 -­‐ 4 ¾ cup oatmeal Grain products 6 100 grams of cheese Milk 3 -­‐ 4 30 ml peanut bu=er Meat 1 -­‐ 2 1 slice of bread Grain products 3 -­‐ 4 1 cup of raw vegetables Vegetables and fruit 6 2.5 ounces of chicken Meat 1 -­‐ 2 d. Explain the importance of par2cular ea2ng prac2ces including drinking water as a thirst quencher and ea2ng breakfast Ask students how ojen they eat fast food. Where does this fit in with Canada’s Food Guide? Tell them that while the foods themselves might be the proper serving size, the food itself is unhealthy because it contains a lot of fat, salt and sugar and not enough of the nutrients that your body needs. Give them the following scenario: You go to MacDonald’s and have a cheeseburger, fries and a coke. Then you meet up with your friends who are going for a jog around the park. How do you think you will feel once you start jogging? Why? Ask them if there was a Bme when something like this happened to them. Look at EaBng Well With Canada’s Food Guide and draw students a=enBon to the bo=om of the serving chart where it talks about fats and oils. Students will work individually or in pairs to produce a colorful poster. One half of the poster will show a healthy meal and the other half of the poster will show an unhealthy meal. Ask students how many of them come to school without eaBng breakfast. How quickly do they get hungry? Tell students that there are many benefits to eaBng breakfast in the morning. Look at the two smaller words in “breakfast” – break and fast. You break your fast when you eat in the morning. Your body hasn’t had anything to eat all night and therefore you need to give it nourishment in order for your brain and body to work throughout the day. Ask students to list reasons why it is important to have a healthy breakfast. Refer to Canada’s Food guide to choose foods that would make up a healthy breakfast. Ask students what they do when they get thirsty. They will say they have a drink – but ask what they drink. Explain the benefits of drinking water to quench thirst. It doesn’t contain any sugar or salt as other drinks do that can actually make you more thirsty. Reproduce page 23 and have students complete it. For the next class, ask students to bring in food labels from home. Name ________________________________
1. Why should you always eat breakfast? Date ___________________ 2. Why should you drink water when you are thirsty? e. Demonstrate an understanding of healthy food choices (analyze nutri2onal values of par2cular foods) and serving sizes that support good health (Canada’s Food Guide) Refer to the last secBon of Canada’s Food Guide – NutriBon Facts. Show a label that you have brought and explain to students that this is where the manufacturer has to list the nutriBonal value of the food. Trans-­‐fats are unhealthy and it is important to limit these as much as possible. You also have to look at the amount of calories in a serving as well as the amount of salt and sugar. Have students work with a partner to examine the nutriBonal value of the food labels they brought to class. There is a very good chance that some students did not bring any labels. Pair these students with those who have brought in some labels or give labels to these students that you brought in. An alterna2ve is to have a Health center where there are labels for the students to examine one group at a 2me. Have students determine, based on the nutriBon label, whether or not the food is healthy or unhealthy. Reproduce pages 25 -­‐ 26 for students to use for this acBvity. Name _______________________________
I think the foods from these labels are healthy The reasons I think this are Date ____________________ Name ___________________________________
I think the foods from these labels are unhealthy The reasons I think this are Date _________________ f. Inves2gate personal, family, community and cultural factors that influence physical ac2vity (2me, cultural prac2ces and values, access, safety) What aotudes exist in your family about physical acBvity? For example, do you walk to the store or drive in the car? How ojen do you go for a walk? Record the student answers. Tell students that in some cultures people rarely drive when they can walk. Bicycles are very popular and they ride just about everywhere they go when the weather is suitable. Discuss the access that students have to physical acBvity. Are they living close to a park or a trail? Do they have to be very careful about traffic? If you live in a small community, it may be common for children to walk, ride or play close to the road, but this would not be safe in a city. Ask students what factors influence the amount of physical acBvity they can do? Make a list of the answers g. Review the health benefits of regular physical ac2vity and the health risks of inac2vity for pre-­‐adolescence Discuss the benefits of regular physical acBvity. Canada’s Physical AcBvity Guide for Children: h=p://www.phac-­‐aspc.gc.ca/hp-­‐ps/hl-­‐mvs/pa-­‐ap/index-­‐eng.php Make a list of the benefits and have children write them in their notebooks. Ask students what the risks are of not exercising on a regular basis. Record their answers. Students will create a poster adverBsing the benefits of regular exercise using the list of benefits and risks. h. Inves2gate peer norms and popular trends related to healthy ea2ng and physical ac2vity Ask students how they think their friends influence what they eat and the types of physical acBvity they do. Record their answers. Ask how they think television influences what they eat and the acBviBes they do. Again record the answers Create a list of the types of classes that students take outside of school related to physical acBvity. Some examples are: Swimming Organized sports Dance Create a bar graph to show how many students are engaged in different acBviBes. Ask why they think this has become the norm instead of just leong children do whatever kind of physical acBvity they want. What is a popular trend in healthy eaBng and physical acBvity? Pose this quesBon to the class and discuss the responses. Talk about the commercials on TV and the adverBsements that students see in various places in the community. Ask how these influence what they want to eat and what kinds of acBviBes they do with their families and friends. Reproduce page 31 and have students answer the quesBons Name _______________________________
1. What does it mean to eat healthy? Date _____________________ 2. Do you think you eat healthy foods? Why or why not? 3. What does it mean to be physically acBve? 4. Do you think you are physically acBve? Why or why not? 5. Is there anything you can do to change what you eat and to become more physically acBve? What would it be? i.
Explore the consequences (both posi2ve and nega2ve) of following or resis2ng peer norms and/or popular trends related to ea2ng and physical ac2vity Ask students what could happen if they wanted to take part in all the physical acBviBes their friends did. Consider the Bme factor involved, family responsibiliBes and cost involved. Even if students live in a city where there are numerous types of classes, etc. the cost of joining all these is tremendous, plus the fact that their parents have to bring them to the classes. What about eaBng the same foods as their friends? Record the answers the students give to both quesBons. Now ask them what might happen if they were different from their friends and did not eat any of the same foods or engage in any of the same acBviBes. This can lead to a discussion on being lej out or being bullied. Explain that everyone is different and enjoys different things. At the same Bme, each person has to find a happy medium where they can be with friends that enjoy the same things as they do. j. Inves2gate the physical ac2vity opportuni2es in the community that benefit and/or challenge mental , socio-­‐emo2onal, and spiritual well-­‐being for pre-­‐adolescence (develop personal giSs, and poten2al) Look at the local community and make a list of all the opportuniBes that exist for people to engage in physical acBvity. When students have listed all they can think of, review the list to determine how these opportuniBes benefit the people. What challenges sBll exist for residents in order to be able to take advantage of these opportuniBes? Have students create a brochure adverBsing the community’s opportuniBes for physical acBviBes. OR Students will write a le=er to the council telling the person in charge what problems exist in the opportuniBes that are available and asking if something can be done to remedy the situaBon. k. Inves2gate personal changes that need to be made for beTer nutri2on (serving sizes, variety of foods) and appropriate amounts of physical ac2vity (Canada’s Guide to Physical Ac2vity) Review what students have learned in this unit about servings sizes, the kinds of food they should eat and the importance of physical acBvity. Ask them if they were surprised by any of the informaBon. Ask students if there is anything they can do to change any of their eaBng or physical acBvity habits. Reproduce page 35 for students to complete Name _________________________ Date _____________________ In this unit I learned that Something that surprised me was One thing I can change to become healthier is Assessment Rubrics for assessing student work throughout the unit: Group work : h=p://www.nald.ca/library/learning/btg/ed/evaluaBon/groupwork.htm Posters: h=p://www.rubrics4teachers.com/rubric_poster_07.php Page 37 contains an anecdotal record keeping sheet. Each column could be for one student. Write the date in each block to record your observa2on. You can also use one sheet per student. These notes will prove to be invaluable at report card 2me when you have to write comments regarding the student’s work and par2cipa2on in class.