Understanding By Design Unit Template
Title of Unit
Curriculum Area
Developed By
Food and Nutrition
Science/Health
Grade Level
Time Frame
4th
3 weeks
Tiffannie Kaster
Identify Desired Results (Stage 1)
Content Standards
Students will understand the importance of nutrition in relation to overall health and food as a source of energy to the body.
Understandings
Essential Questions
Overarching Understanding







Understand that food serves as an energy source for humans
and other organisms
Understand the significance of calories in regards to energy
supply
Knowing the various food groups and what belongs in each
group
Understand the different components of food/calories
Understand that food intake relates to growth, health, energy,
and strength.
Understand how a diet can be improved upon for better health.
Understand how to use available resources to calculate
nutritional content of foods
Related Misconceptions



Foods high in calories are bad for you.
Students understand that some foods are good for your while
others are not but may not understand why or have the wrong
understanding.
Students may believe that all overweight people eat too much.
Overarching




Why do we need food to
survive?
What significance do
calories serve in regards
to the body?
What foods make up the
food pyramid?
What are the main
nutrients that foods
contain?
Topical



What nutrients in food
are essential to our
survival?
Why is variety of foods
important? (Why is
following the food
pyramid important)?
How can low levels of
some nutrients be
detrimental to our
growth, our health and
our strength?
Knowledge
Skills
Students will know…
Students will be able to…


Key terms-carbohydrates, proteins, sugars, calories, nutrients,
energy, fat, food groups, sugars, grains, dairy, my plate,
The different levels of the food pyramid/plate and examples of
foods that belong in each group.






Identify the various food groups and nutrients that make up
the foods in those groups
Name and describe the main nutrients that foods contain
Describe the different foods contained in the food pyramid
Analyze a diet to determine if it contains a balance of foods
Modify a diet to include a balance of foods.
Assessment Evidence (Stage 2)
Performance Task DescriptionGoal
Role
Audience
Situation
Product/Performance
Standards
All included below Stage 3
Other Evidence
Learning Plan (Stage 3)
Where are your students headed? Where have
they been? How will you make sure the
students know where they are going?
How will you hook students at the beginning of
the unit?
What events will help students experience and
explore the big idea and questions in the unit?
How will you equip them with needed skills and
knowledge?
Students will be learning the importance of nutrition as it relates to their own energy
needs as a living organism and the effects the different foods can have on a person
along with the importance of a variety of foods.
To ensure students know where they are headed each lesson includes an objective or
the purpose for the activities so students know the reason behind the activities they are
participating in.
By having students bring in pictures of themselves, see lesson 1 below. Students will
enjoy sharing their pictures with other students and will get them looking at how we
grow and develop and the importance food and nutrition has played to get us there.
As a final project students will have to analyze data they have collected from their own
meals and reflect upon how it could be improved upon along with creating an improved
meal log. To get to this point, students will have to be given all the tools needed to
analyze their meals. By including a wide variety of lessons which teach all of the
How will you cause students to reflect and
rethink? How will you guide them in rehearsing,
revising, and refining their work?
How will you help students to exhibit and selfevaluate their growing skills, knowledge, and
understanding throughout the unit?
How will you tailor and otherwise personalize
the learning plan to optimize the engagement
and effectiveness of ALL students, without
compromising the goals of the unit?
How will you organize and sequence the
learning activities to optimize the engagement
and achievement of ALL students?
different understandings that are expected of the students, I am ensuring that the
students have the skills and knowledge they need to have no trouble with their final
projects and in the end will achieve the overall goal of understanding the importance of
nutrition in relation to overall healthy and energy means for living organisms.
Students will have to reflect and rethink after many of the lessons when we have
discussions in groups about work that we had done. This lessons include analyzing the
schools menu and the food group exercises. The students will be guided through this
process throughout the lessons while we are in groups discussing and as a class
discussing and when it is time for the final project students will be using these
reflecting skills to develop healthy meal logs.
Students will throughout the unit be putting their new skills to use by developing their
own food plate, analyzing the schools’ lunch menu, and analyzing their own meals.
Each activity is followed by a discussion period so students can think through their skills
and ask questions about things that they may be struggling with.
The new USDA “My Plate”, that replaced the food pyramid in 2010, does a good job of
stressing that everyone’s “plate” is different and encourages variety in the types of
foods we each and is therefore a good reference to refer back to throughout the
lesson. By referring back to the My Plate students create in this unit and students
recording their own meal data the information becomes more personalized and tailored
to each individual person. By encouraging students that everyone’s meals are different
and that it is ok it makes all students feel comfortable about sharing the foods they eat
and not ashamed.
I tried to include an activity in the beginning of every day that either discussed material
learned from the previous day/lesson or that engaged them into the new material. By
letting students work in groups for a lot of the activities students at various levels of
achievement are able to help each other learn the material.
From: Wiggins, Grant and J. Mc Tighe. (1998). Understanding by Design, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
ISBN # 0-87120-313-8 (ppk)
Side Note:
This unit is planned around a science period of about 30-45 minutes.
When discussing food/calories and weight you have to very careful about wording and not discriminating against any children
because of weight or diet issues. The teacher must be careful as not to make any student feel uncomfortable about themselves.
This is meant as a means of health education and not meant to promote drastic eating changes or dieting. Parent involvement
in this lesson is strongly encouraged. The new USDA “My Plate”, that replaced the food pyramid in 2010, does a good job of
stressing that everyone’s “plate” is different and encourages variety in the types of foods we each and is therefore a good
reference to refer back to throughout the lesson.
Days 1
Lesson 1
Goal/Objective- Students understand that humans and other organisms need food to grow and that the amount of
food can help and hurt our health and growth. Students will understand that food intake relates to growth, health,
energy, and strength.

Assessment- Observing children during classroom discussion and journal activity will assess that students understand
the objectives.
 Materials- pictures brought in by students (3) baby, toddler, recent photo, photos of malnourished children, food plate
worksheet.
ExecutionStudents will bring in 3 pictures: one of themselves as a baby, one as small child and then picture of themselves now. We will
hang them in the class to start a classroom discussion to learn what children know about how our bodies grow and why we food
is important to our growth and health. Then students will be shown pictures of malnourished kids to lead into a discussion
about how our bodies can show us that we are not getting enough food or the right types of foods and the importance of
keeping our bodies healthy.
Students will do a quick write in their journals about what they had learned that day about the importance of food to the overall
growth and development of living organisms.
Students should be informed about their final project right away so enough time is given to get the data students need.
Students should be told that they should start writing down everything they eat every day for at least 5 days, one of them
having to be on a weekend. Students will be given a meal log handout to keep track of their information on. Students should
be told that within the next couple days students will be learning more about food groups and that they can leave out the
information about calories until later in the unit and for now just record their meals. See below for final project details.
Day 2-4
Lesson 2

Goal/Objective- Students will know the various food groups and what belongs in each group.
Assessment- The individual food pyramid students develop on day 3, rubric attached. Observing discussion students
have on day 2 and the journal responses students have on day 2 also.

Materials- The book, D.W. the Picky Eater by Marc Brown , food plate examples from www.myplate.gov also included
at the end of this unit, construction paper, colored pencils, markers, crayons and any other drawing materials, video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjwuzOCuM24. Examples of foods from various food groups: can be actual
food, pictures, plastic versions, etc...
Day 21. As an introduction to this day D.W. the Picky Eater by Marc Brown will be read to the students it is a story about Arthur
the Aardvark's sister, D.W., who is a picky eater. The family leaves her at home when they go out to eat until D.W.
decides she might be missing something good by being so picky. This would serve as a connection to literacy and an
introduction into how having a variety of food groups in your diet is important.
2. Students could then be introduced to the new USDA developed food plate. All the food groups will be introduced and
examples of foods that belong in each will be given. Along with the new guidelines that the USDA has set with the new
My Food Plate. The terms grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy and meats should all be included. Students should be
informed that the food plate is a guideline for healthy eating and that each person’s plate may be a bit different but the
important thing is having a variety of good foods on your plate.
3. Students complete a short journal entry about if they are picky eaters like D.W. and what foods they like and don’t like
and if this story has made them think about trying new foods or not.
Day 3-4
Students will watch a video to review information about the food groups.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjwuzOCuM24
From here students could participate in a competitive activity. Examples of various foods will be at the front of the room, after
designating different areas of the classroom as the food groups, divide the students in half and have a contest to see who can
put the foods in the correct food groups the fastest.
Rules:
1. Students will have to take turns, rotating through the desks or a line of students.
2. Students must walk the entire time or be given a 1 minute penalty for each occurrence.
3. Before trading off to the next team member students need to tag the next person.
4. Team members are encouraged to help out their teammates but may risk giving answers to the other team.
5. Results should not be given until the end to be fair to the first team to go.
A quick discussion of the correct places to put the items would follow.
Then students can develop a poster of their own Food Plate. Students can use construction paper and drawing materials to
draw out their plate, label the different food groups and give a couple of examples of each group along with pictures to go along
with each example. Students should include all of the food groups along with at least three examples for each group and
pictures to go along with each group. Rubric is attached.
In groups students will discuss the video and the food pyramids they developed. Students should discuss why they put foods in
each category of their food pyramids, giving them an opportunity to discuss questionable foods with their peers and sharing
ideas that others may have never heard of.
Days 5
Lesson 3

Goal/Objectives- 1. Students will understand the significance of calories in regards to energy supply. 2. Students will
understand the different components of food: carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
 Assessment- Worksheet students do on carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
 Materials- video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvahFySXhLs, carbohydrate, protein, fats worksheet
ExecutionDay 5Students will watch a video (about 3 mins) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvahFySXhLs , which includes information
about carbohydrates, fats, and proteins and the significance of calories intake in regards to how much activity students do and
the importance of balancing those calories.
After the video the contents will be discussed further and students will do a worksheet on the differences between
carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
Days 6-8
Lesson 4



Goals/Objectives- Understand how to use available resources to calculate nutritional content of foods.
Materials- school lunch menu, Calorie resources such as books, handouts, and websites such as www.calorielab.com,
calorie calculating apps on the iPad or other electronic devices or computer software programs such as Nutrition Calc
Plus.
Assessment- Day 6- Research information the students have found about 5 food items of their choosing will assess if
students are able to utilize the new research tools.
Days 7-8: Students will analyze a person’s diet, for the amount of calories per meal, what food group each food is in and
if each food is a carbohydrate, protein, or fat.
Day 6The worksheet from the previous day can be discussed.
Students will then be shown a couple different resources that show types of foods and their calories such as books, handouts,
websites such as www.calorielab.com, calorie calculating apps on the iPad or other electronic devices or computer software
programs such as Nutrition Calc Plus.
By utilizing books and not just technology resources students are integrating their literacy skills into the lesson.
In groups students will come up with 5 foods that they would like to research and learn more about their nutritional value. By
doing this, students will get comfortable working with these resources which they will use during their final project and other
work. Depending on the number of resources available students can rotate through using electronic guides, and using paper
resources. Students will write down their findings to be shared with the teacher and the class.
Day 7-8
Students will be given the school lunch menu to look at. To get students comfortable analyzing someone’s diet, students in
small groups will use the same resources they practiced using the day before to determine the calories, the food groups and
type of calorie source (carbohydrate, protein, fat) of all the foods for 3 days on the lunch menu. This will give students more
practice on utilizing the available resources to determine nutritional content of foods before they begin work on their final
project.
Day 9-10
Lesson 5

Goals/objective- Students will understand how a diet can be improved upon for better health and why a variety of food
is important.
 Assessment- Students suggestions made about the school’s menu
 Materials- students’ menu observations,
ExecutionDay 9-
As a class a discussion can be done about what food groups are missing, which foods are high in calories and if there is variety
in the types of foods. Students then can be guided through an example of how to improve the menu. Students will share their
input about modifications and why they think it is important along with teacher feedback.
After guiding students through an example or two of types of modifications that can be done to improve the menu students will
go back to their groups and determine 4 ways that the 3 days they analyzed on the school’s lunch menu could be improved
upon, supporting their suggestion with a couple sentences on why they made the suggestion.
Day 10Students will share and discuss their suggestions for the schools menu.
This time can also be utilized to review any of the topics that students appear to be struggling with.
Students can also play educational games on http://school.fueluptoplay60.com/tools/nutritioneducation/games/littled/quintricious.php
Day 11-13
Final Project
Goals/objectives
 Students will..
 Understand the significance of calories in regards to energy supply
 Knowing the various food groups and what belongs in each group
 Understand the different components of food/calories
 Understand how a diet can be improved upon for better health.
 Understand how to use available resources to calculate nutritional content of foods
 Assessment- The student’s final project will assess majority of the essential understandings expected of the students.
Students will analyze their own meal logs by calculating calories, grouping foods into correct food groups and determining
the source of their calories. Students will then have to suggest modifications to make their meals healthier according to
the USDA suggestions.
 Materials- original meal log done by students, calorie/food resources (same used for previous lessons) new meal log
sheets.
ExecutionAt the beginning of the lesson students were asked to keep track of their meals for 5 days with one of those days be a weekend.
Students should have had plenty of time to complete this task and should bring their meal logs to class for this day.
Students will then have to take their meal log and using all the information they learned throughout the unit write a paper
including:
1. how many calories total they are consuming each day, and each week
2. what food groups they are getting a lot of, if any, which ones are low or missing in their diet
3. what is the main source of their calories: carbohydrates, sugars, or fats
4. What could you do to improve your diet and its nutritional value?
5. with what they have learned because of this unit (about themselves, about food, facts they liked, parts they enjoyed or
didn’t enjoy because)
Also students should include a modified version of their food log which would make it healthier, meaning including a variety of
foods, variety of food groups, and lower calories and higher nutritional value foods.
For this project students are allowed to use resources they have used previously in and will have time in class to work on it.
With it being the final project students are expected to have accurate and complete information with no spelling errors.
See attached rubric.
Rubric for Food Plate Poster
Teacher Name: Tiffannie Kaster
Student Name:
CATEGORY 4
________________________________________
3
2
1
Food group labels All of the food
groups are
included on the
poster.
All but one of the The poster is
food groups are missing 2 of food
included on the groups.
poster
The poster is
missing more
than 2 food
groups.
Examples
Three or more
examples are
given for every
food group.
Three or more
examples are
given for almost
all of the food
groups.
At least two
examples are
given for all of
the food groups.
Less than two
examples are
given for each
food group.
Pictures
Pictures are
Pictures are
included for all included for most
the food groups. of the food
groups.
Pictures are not
included for most
of the food
groups
Pictures are not
included for any
of the food
groups.
Final Project: Paper Rubric
Teacher Name: Tiffannie Kaster
Student Name:
CATEGORY 4
________________________________________
3
2
1
Organization
Information is
very organized
with wellconstructed
paragraphs.
Information is
organized with
well-constructed
paragraphs.
Information is
organized, but
paragraphs are
not wellconstructed.
The information
appears to be
disorganized.
Amount of
Information
All topics are
addressed and all
questions
answered with at
least 2 sentences
about each.
All topics are
addressed and
most questions
answered with at
least 2 sentences
about each.
All topics are
One or more
addressed, and
topics were not
most questions addressed.
answered with 1
sentence about
each.
Mechanics
No grammatical,
spelling or
punctuation
errors.
Almost no
grammatical,
spelling or
punctuation
errors
A few
grammatical
spelling or
punctuation
errors.
Many
grammatical,
spelling, or
punctuation
errors.
Final project: Modified Meal Log Rubric
Student Name: ________________________________________
CATEGORY 4
3
2
1
Modifications
made
At least two
modifications
were made to the
meal log for all 5
days.
At least two
modifications are
included on most
days.
No less than 1
modification was
made on most
days.
Less than 1
modification was
made on each
day in the meal
log.
Accuracy of
Modifications
Modifications are
accurate and
reflect a healthy
diet.
Most
modifications are
accurate and
reflect a healthy
diet.
Some
modifications are
accurate and
reflect a healthy
diet.
None of the
modifications are
accurate or
reflect a healthy
diet.
Original Meal
Log
Original Meal
log is attached
and is complete.
Including all
meals for 5 days
including 1
weekend.
Original Meal
Log is attached
and is mostly
complete
including most
meals for the 5
days including 1
weekend.
Original Meal
log is attached
and is missing 12 days of meals
or student didn't
include a
weekend day.
Original Meal
log is missing or
includes less than
3 days of meals.