Option 1(Create a brochure)
Investigate obesity rates for your area. Refer to maps illustrating state obesity statistics and county obesity rates to determine the prevalence of obesity in your area. How do the statistics for your community compare with those for other areas? Is the obesity rate increasing or decreasing? What accounts for this trend? Then, develop personal eating and exercise plans to improve overall health. You can find helpful tips for eating from Michael Pollan on the POV website.
Option 2 (iMovie Newscast)
Explore misleading claims on food packaging. Review A Brief History of Food and Nutrition Labeling and note the various food industry labeling programs that have been developed since 1990. Can students find any of these messages on the containers they brought in for the main activity? Discuss whether or not such labeling benefits consumers. Write news stories and create visuals that draw from key sections of the report Food Labeling Chaos from the Center for Science in the Public Interest. A helpful and succinct article based on this report outlines Six Meaningless Claims on Food Labels. Organize your materials into a class newscast.
Option 3 (iMovie Matanzas Cafeteria Documentary)
Use iMovie to create a photo gallery of Matanzas' cafeteria school lunch. Create interview questions for students and staff. Report your comparisons with other cafeteria's lunches and combine with interviews in an iMovie.
Investigate obesity rates for your area. Refer to maps illustrating state obesity statistics and county obesity rates to determine the prevalence of obesity in your area. How do the statistics for your community compare with those for other areas? Is the obesity rate increasing or decreasing? What accounts for this trend? Then, develop personal eating and exercise plans to improve overall health. You can find helpful tips for eating from Michael Pollan on the POV website.
Option 2 (iMovie Newscast)
Explore misleading claims on food packaging. Review A Brief History of Food and Nutrition Labeling and note the various food industry labeling programs that have been developed since 1990. Can students find any of these messages on the containers they brought in for the main activity? Discuss whether or not such labeling benefits consumers. Write news stories and create visuals that draw from key sections of the report Food Labeling Chaos from the Center for Science in the Public Interest. A helpful and succinct article based on this report outlines Six Meaningless Claims on Food Labels. Organize your materials into a class newscast.
Option 3 (iMovie Matanzas Cafeteria Documentary)
- Learn more about your school’s cafeteria food. Develop a class set of standards to measure the quality of school lunch. Then analyze a week’s worth of school lunches based on this criteria. Is nutritional information available for your school’s cafeteria food? If not, why not? Review the school lunch photo gallery to see how your school compares, and add a photo of the food from your lunchroom.
Use iMovie to create a photo gallery of Matanzas' cafeteria school lunch. Create interview questions for students and staff. Report your comparisons with other cafeteria's lunches and combine with interviews in an iMovie.