Lesson title: “How Healthy Are You: A Middle School WebQuest”

 

Grade level/range: Middle school

 

Subject areas of focus: This lesson is suited to both Physical Education and Life Science.

 

Description of lesson:

  • Why health?  Though an emphasis is placed on physical education in the form of a P.E. class, and students learn about the various systems of the human body in Life Science (California 7th grade standard) no connection is made between the two.  That is, the connection between food, physical activity, and general well-being is not made explicit.  Taking proper care of one’s health is a skill that needs to be taught and is frequently overlooked, as evidenced by the following statistics:
    • 20% of children and teenagers in the United States are overweight 
    • Only 2% of children get their daily recommended servings of fruit and vegetables
    • 1 in 3 children has cholesterol levels too high for good heart health
    • 75% of fifth, seventh, and ninth graders did not meet California’s physical fitness goals in 2001 testing

            Throughout this project students will be learning about foods and how to analyze them, what it means to be physically active and what can happen when a person is not active or fit.  In addition, they will gain experience using technology to do research as well as working collaboratively in pairs or small groups.

 

 

Standards/Objectives/Outcomes: This WebQuest ties in physical education and technology standards.  The following standards will be covered:

•         Physical education standard, grade 7:

–        Standard 3: The student will achieve and maintain a health-enhancing level of physical fitness.  Students who meet this standard will be able to identify the impact of such factors as nutrition on the body’s ability to participate in physical activity. 

•         Technology standards for California:

–        Standard 3: Technology productivity tools

•         Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity

–        Standard 5: Technology research tools

•         Students use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a variety of sources

 

By the end of the lesson, the student will understand what “physical activity” means.  In addition, the student will know how to analyze the nutrition information of a food and make recommendations regarding the healthiness of a diet (for purposes of this activity, “diet” refers to eating habits in general, whether healthy or unhealthy).  Furthermore, the student will gain experience researching a topic and organizing and presenting findings to a group. 

 

 

Technology needed:

  • Computers outfitted with an internet browser, network connection, and Microsoft Word or other word-processing software
  • Adobe Acrobat reader loaded on all computers
  • Printing capability
  • Scheduled lab time

 

Assessment: Students will be completing several activities as they go through this WebQuest.  This is a 2-3 week project, and students are expected to compile their work into a folder to be turned in periodically during the project as well as for a final product.  In addition, they will present information about an obesity-related disease and research about fast-food restaurants to the class.  Students will be provided with a rubric at the beginning of the project so they are clearly aware of the expectations and grading scale for the entire project. 

 

Overall effectiveness of the lesson will be evaluated as a composite of the students’ work included in the project journal (portfolio assessment).  The students’ evaluation will be based on their completion of the following:

  1.  Journal
  2.  Analysis of family recipe with rewritten, healthier version including revised analysis (completed as a word document)
  3.  Group analysis of 2 common foods and presentation of the nutritional information for those foods in a PowerPoint format
  4.  Group analysis and presentation to the class regarding a disease associated with being overweight
  5.  Recommendation to self regarding healthiness of your own diet based on research completed

 

 

Teacher’s Guide

 

Resources needed: The teacher should go through the WebQuest and have a thorough understanding of all required components before starting the project with the students.  Certain portions of the WebQuest activities may require time modeling procedures or walking the students through the processes (such as looking up information on a given food).  In addition, templates are provided online for certain portions of the WebQuest activities.  The teacher may want to print and photocopy these templates ahead of time for distribution to students.

 

Software use instructions: Web links are provided in the online WebQuest.  Please see http://www.roulo.com/teaching/healthydietWQ.htm for links, worksheets, and other recommended sites.

 

Anticipated length of time for lesson: Though certain activities can be completed in one class period, the entire project is planned for a 2-3 week unit. 

 

Student grouping:

            ü Single

            ü Pairs

            ü Small groups

            ü Whole class (active participation expected in class presentations)

 

Lesson management: In seventh grade, students learn about life science, including the functions of the human body.  In addition, they are expected to gain an appreciation for physical fitness through team sports and periodic testing.  However, little connection is made for them between physical fitness, nutrition, and the proper functioning of their bodies.  Students should have an idea of what “physical activity” or “physical fitness” means prior to beginning this WebQuest.  In addition, students will know that the body is made up of systems and that our food provides energy to fuel life processes.  Activities included in the WebQuest may require additional explanation before student engagement in a task (for example, the relationship of calories to pounds or calories to energy). 

 

Teacher and student tasks: The teacher’s responsibility with this unit is to instruct students on the basics of nutrition required for students to understand the tasks they are assigned to accomplish.  In addition, the teacher will oversee all computer lab activities and keep up-to-date with student progress or difficulties in completing their assigned tasks. 

 

During the WebQuest project, students may work at their own pace or to a teacher-created schedule with deadlines imposed.  In order to get a complete picture and in depth  understanding of the various components of nutrition, students will complete several activities over 2-4 weeks (depending on allotted computer time on a daily basis & teacher selection of activities).  They will:

•         Keep a journal of daily food intake and reflections on how they felt on those days for one week

•         Analyze 2 foods available in their home on a regular basis and determine whether or not they are healthy

•         Analyze nutritional intake of a favorite family recipe and rewrite the recipe, making substitutions where possible, to make it healthier

•         Work in a group to compare the nutrition in 2 fast-food menu choices.

•         Present the group’s findings on 2 fast-foods and their nutritional data, with a recommendation of what customers could eat instead. 

•         Investigate a disease associated with obesity, and present findings to the class

•         Make a recommendation (to themselves) regarding their diet and whether it is healthy or if they should change it

•         Explain what “physical activity” means (including examples), why it is important, and how much a person should get

•         Help compile the revised, healthier recipes into a class cookbook

 

 

Student assistance: The following strategies will assist students to be successful in this lesson:

•         Provide students with the grading rubric at the beginning of the project

•         Pair work will be involved, including peer-editing and use of the “3 before me” rule (students must ask 3 other students for help before asking the teacher)

•         Students may discuss ideas and work together when helpful to the activity at hand