Activity 6 – What’s the difference between healthy and unhealthy food? (Part II)

By participating in three investigations, students will discover food sources, as well as advantages and disadvantages of fats.

Learning outcomes

Students will:

• Show how calories can be used to compare the chemical energy of different foods
• Discuss how foods provide both energy and nutrients
• Determine that foods are made up of a variety of components
• Utilize the basic information on food labels to make decisions about the nutritional value of various foods
• Distinguish between healthy and unhealthy eating patterns
• Develop fluency with multiplication and division
• Collect, organize, analyze, and display data to solve problems.
• Solve problems by comparing two sets of related data.

Teacher planning

Time required

Students will be engaged in stations, spending approximately 25 minutes at each station.

Materials needed

• Station 1: Small metal piping, corn oil, melted lard or shortening, ice cold water, and electric frying pan
• Station 2: Nutrition labels of various foods that are high in fat, grid paper, colored pencils and data sheets
• Station 3: Ziploc bag full of shortening and bowl full of ice

Pre-activities

• Divide students into at least three groups.
• For maximum success, you may want to reserve adult volunteers to supervise each investigation, thereby allowing you to facilitate all students as needed.
• Set up stations as follows and post directions at each station:
  
  1. Investigation 1: An adult must be present at this station. Turn only one electric frying pan on and melt the lard or shortening. Pour corn oil in the other pan, but do not turn it on. Provide a few cups of cold water.
  2. Investigation 2: Place nutrition labels at the center, along with grid paper and colored pencils.
  3. Investigation 3: Place “blubber” bag next to the bowl of ice.
  4. Optional Investigation 4: Content blast with teacher.

Activities

1. Review all previous activities or appropriate background knowledge. Tell students that today they will use some of the skills and knowledge from all those lessons in station activities. They must be ready to work as scientists do to make some important scientific discoveries.
2. Tell students, “Some of you will be doing Investigation 1, some Investigation 2, and others Investigation 3. After approximately 20 minutes, you will switch. But there will be a ten minute reflection and re-set up time in between.”
3. At each station, directions and questions are posted. Students should set up their notebooks for the three investigations ahead of time by writing the investigation number on the top of a page — one page for each station.
   Station 1
   1. Students will read the definitions of saturated and unsaturated fat. Then, read descriptions of corn oil and lard (or shortening). They will predict which fat is saturated and which is unsaturated. Finally, they will test their predictions by sticking a metal pipe in each pan and then dipping it in cold water.
   2. Students will then answer questions based on the results of their experiment.

   Station 2
   Students will create graphs of the nutrients in favorite fatty foods and answer questions based on the information displayed in the graphs.

   Station 3
   Students will “play” with the blubber bag and make observations as to the advantages and disadvantages of fat.

4. Once students have had an opportunity to visit all stations, gather students back together as a group. Lead a discussion on experiences and findings, station by station.
5. Then, conduct the brain writing activity. See Supplemental Information. Place students in groups of six or another appropriate configuration. Each person in the group is assigned a question and writes it at the top of their worksheet. Based on their experiences at each station, each student writes three ideas or answers on the top row of the worksheet in five minutes using complete and concise sentences of six to ten words.
6. At the end of 5 minutes (or when everyone has finished writing), students pass the worksheet to the person on the right. That person then adds three more ideas. The process continues until the worksheet is completed. It’s okay if ideas are duplicated.
7. Come together to discuss student answers and ideas. Work to dispel remaining misconceptions and misunderstandings, and affirm essential understandings and concepts.
8. Finally, students compile “correct” answers on a final brain writing graphic organizer (individually or as a group).
9. To close, direct students to all essential questions and the QOD.
10. Have a short closing discussion to review essential understandings for this activity and add student ideas to the chart paper.

Assessment

• Students should record an answer to the QOD in their science notebooks that correctly applies essential understandings of the activity.
• Evaluate student responses during discussions and brainstorming, and to essential questions.
• Assess students’ brain writing and station data sheets.

Modifications

• Explore further the effects of saturated fat on the cardiovascular system.
• For English Language Learners, use dictionaries or thesauruses in their native language or bilingual dictionaries.
• For lower achieving students or those with writing difficulties, use simplified data sheets and questions.

Supplemental information

Brain writing 6-3-5

6 students write 3 ideas in 5 minutes. Each person has a blank 6-3-5 worksheet similar to the following.

Question

Name	Idea 1	Idea 2	Idea 3
Student 1	Idea or answer written in a complete sentence of 6–10 words.	Idea or answer written in a complete sentence of 6–10 words.	Idea or answer written in a complete sentence of 6–10 words.
Student 2
Student 3
Student 4
Student 5
Student 6

Each person in the group is assigned a question and writes it at the top of the worksheet. Based on experiences at each station, each student writes 3 ideas or answers on the top row of the worksheet in 5 minutes in a complete and concise sentence (6–10 words).

At the end of 5 minutes (or when everyone has finished writing), students pass the worksheet to the person on the right. You then add three more ideas. The process continues until the worksheet is completed.

It’s okay if ideas are duplicated. Finally, students compile their answers on a final brain writing graphic organizer (individually or as a group).

Critical vocabulary

• saturated fat
• unsaturated fat
• protein
• reaction
• clogging
• greasy
• oily
• fatty
• cause
• effect
• fact
• opinion
• muscles
• meat
• nuts
• fish