We Are What We Eat

Objective

By the end of class, students will be able to:

• Explain why a person's diet matters for their health
• Identify possible short- and long-term health consequences of poor nutrition
• Recall what they already know (or don't yet know) about key nutrients (vitamin A, iron, calcium, folic acid) and the role of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, as measured by a pretest

Materials

• Photocopies of the "Billy's Dilemma" case (read-aloud script)
• Photocopies of the "Nutrition Pretest" (1 per student)
• Photocopies of the "Nutrient Worksheet" (1 per student, for the extension)
• Board or large tear-off pad and marker

Warm-up (~5 min)

1. Write "We Are What We Eat!" on the board.
2. Ask students to call out anything they already know or have heard about how diet affects health. Jot a few responses on the board (no need to organize yet — this primes them for the case discussion).

Main Activity (~25 min)

1. Read the case aloud (5 min): Read "Billy's Dilemma" to the class exactly as written in the packet.
2. Brainstorm (10 min): Ask students to call out ideas about what additional information would help figure out why Billy isn't feeling like himself. As students respond, write their ideas on the board/pad:
3. Ideas related to diet, nutrition, or weight go at the top of the board.
4. Ideas unrelated to diet, nutrition, or weight go near the bottom.
5. When the list is full, point out to the class that many factors could affect Billy's health, but today's focus will be on the items at the top — the ones related to nutrition.
6. Discussion questions (10 min): Ask the class the following questions, recording responses on the board/pad:
7. What can you learn by looking at a person's diet?
8. Why is this information important?
9. What might be some of the short- and long-term consequences for Billy if he does not change his diet?

Wrap-up / Exit Ticket (~10 min)

1. Hand out the Nutrition Pretest to each student.
2. Have students complete it individually and silently.
3. Collect the completed pretests as the exit ticket — no grading needed by the substitute; the classroom teacher will use these to gauge students' starting knowledge before the full nutrition unit continues.

If Time Remains

Hand out the Nutrient Worksheet and have students fill in whatever they already know (without doing internet research) about vitamin A, iron, calcium, and folic acid — what foods they think contain them and why the body might need them. Tell students this is just a starting point; their regular teacher will have them research and complete the rest of the worksheet in an upcoming class using the USDA and NIH websites.