KCAS Health, Nutrition 2.31, 3.2, 3.5 Health, Psychomotor Skills 2.35 Health, Lifetime Personal Wellness 3.2 Health, Safety 5.4
1. Interest Approach Review goal-setting from last time. Ask, What successes did you have? What challenges did you experience? What barriers did you see? Illustrated Talk: Review, using Visual 6:2A. Suggested questions to guide the review: How many foods groups are there? Do you remember what they are called? What does MyPlate tell us about physical activity? Today s topic is the Grains Group. Use Visual 6:2B. Ask, What can you tell me about foods in this group? (Based on comments, adapt the lesson as new or review information) 2. Grain Sources Illustrated talk: Use Visual 6:2C and discuss grains. What types of grains can you think of? What kinds do you like? What foods might contain those grains? Basic concepts: Wheat, corn, rice, and oats are the most common grains people use. Grain plants grow into stalks and seeds. People use the seeds. Can you think of foods made from seeds? (Corn: popcorn, cornmeal. Rice: rice, rice cakes, cereal. Wheat: bread, muffins, cakes, crackers, cereal. Oats: oatmeal, oat cereal, cookies.) We use stalks for feed and bedding for our animals. We call it straw. Wheat is ground into flour and made into bread, pasta, and cereals. Corn is ground into cornmeal and used for breads, tortillas, and cereals. It is important to eat at least half of our grain foods as whole grains. We are going to learn more about what a whole grain is. 6:2A MyPlate 6:2B Grains Group 6:2C Grain Plants Corn Oats Wheat Rice
3. Whole Grains (Optional: Use a cereal box with the words made with whole grains to stimulate discussion of the term.) Remember that in the Grains Group, to be healthy, we need to eat half of our grains as whole grains. What do you think we mean by the term whole grain? Illustrated talk: Show Visual 6:2D and describe the parts of a grain. Whole grain foods contain all three parts of the grain: the bran, endosperm, and germ. The bran is the outer shell and contains fiber, B vitamins, and some minerals; the germ provides nutrition for the seed and contains vitamins; the endosperm contains carbohydrates and protein. Grains that are not whole grains contain only the endosperm. Many of the health benefits of grains are lost when the bran and germ are removed. Products are called refined when they have gone through this process. Because the vitamins and minerals are taken out with the bran and germ, most refined grain products are enriched meaning nutrients are put back into the product. However, fiber is not put back into the product. Remember that just because a food is brown doesn t mean it is whole grain. Ingredients can be added to give a brown color. Why do you think a manufacturer might add color like this? Explain the terms used to determine if a food is whole grain. For whole grain foods, these should be the first words on the ingredient list: whole wheat, bulgur, oatmeal, whole cornmeal, brown rice, popcorn, buckwheat, whole grain barley, whole grain cornmeal, or whole rye. Optional: Discuss how advertisers put phrases that may be misleading on packages and how to be able to discern that. 4. Make a Change Illustrated talk: Using Visual 6:2E, have the youth identify the foods as refined or whole grain. Have them choose a whole grain alternative to the refined foods. Food item Refined or Whole grain whole grain alternative English muffin Refined Whole wheat muffin Doughnut Refined Multigrain bagel Fruit Pop cereal Refined Oatmeal with fruit Popcorn Whole grain Spaghetti Refined Whole wheat spaghetti Saltines Refined Whole wheat crackers Pancakes Refined Buckwheat pancakes Blueberry muffin Refined Bran muffin Oat bran cereal Whole grain Brown rice Whole grain Cereal box with front label that says made with whole grains (optional) 6:2D Whole Grain 3 parts of a grain Whole wheat Bulgur Oatmeal Popcorn Brown rice Buckwheat Whole grain barley Whole grain cornmeal Whole cornmeal Whole rye 6:2E Make a Change Refined Whole grain English muffin Doughnut Popcorn Fruit Pop cereal Spaghetti Pancakes Saltines Blueberry muffin Oat bran cereal Brown rice Whole wheat muffin Multigrain bagel Oatmeal with fruit Whole wheat spaghetti Whole wheat crackers Buckwheat pancakes Bran muffin
5. How Much Do We Need? Illustrated talk: Most sixth-graders need 6 ounces of grains daily. What equals an ounce? Use Visual 6:2F to discuss. 1 slice of bread 1 cup of cold cereal (measure out 1 cup) 7 (2-inch-square) crackers ½ cup of pasta or rice ½ cup of cooked cereal 3 cups of popcorn Remember, MyPlate tells us to make half our grains whole. Brainstorm how this can be done throughout the day 6. Nutrition Facts Earlier we talked about using the ingredient label when determining if a food has whole grains or not. Today we are going to go a bit deeper. Review (or describe as new information) the basic information related to the Nutrition Facts Label. Have you ever used the Nutrition Facts Label? Illustrated talk: Use Visual 6:2G to describe this label and how it can be used to determine the amount of sugar in a food, such as cereal. Describe the basic facts: servings in a package, serving size, amounts refer to one serving, etc. Relate the serving size to the ounce equivalents needed daily. Explain that MyPlate does not use serving sizes, but labels do use them as a way to divide up what is in a package. 7. Nutrients Illustrated talk: Use Visual 6:2H. We have discussed whole grains. Let s take a moment and discuss major nutrients in the Grains Group. Proteins build strong muscles and are needed by all cells. Carbohydrates supply the body with energy to work. Fats supply energy and insulation for the body. Folic acid is a B vitamin essential for health; it is added to grains; it is especially important for women of childbearing age. B vitamins help keep us healthy. All grains contain carbohydrates. If we don t eat enough carbohydrates, our body can struggle to make energy from other nutrients, such as protein and fat. If protein is used for energy, then it can t be used for its unique role in the body healing, growth, etc. Though everyone needs carbohydrates to live, we need to be smart about how much energy (calories) we take in from our food. Too many calories and not enough physical activity can make us unhealthy. Remember that foods with high amounts of fat and added sugar have lots of calories. 6:2F How Much? 1 slice bread 1 c. cold cereal 7 square crackers ½ c. pasta or rice ½ c. cooked cereal 3 c. popcorn 1 c. measure ½ c. measure 6:2G Nutrition Facts Label 6:2H Nutrients Protein Carbohydrates Fats Folic acid B vitamins
8. Breakfast Many people consider breakfast to be the most important meal of the day. Why do you think they say that? What do you think the word breakfast means? (Break the fast.) Explain: A fast is when a person hasn t eaten in a long time. From the time you go to bed at night until you awake in the morning can be eight hours, or maybe as long as 10 or 12 hours. The body is hungry because it has gone a long time without food. Skipping breakfast often makes you feel worn out by the middle of the day. Eating breakfast may make school easier for you your grades often improve when you eat breakfast, because you can concentrate better! 9. Create a Meal Use Visual 6:2I to remind youth that this concept will take more exploring. Activity: Using in-class handout 6:2J, have the youth create a meal and determine how many ounces from the Grains Group their meal contains. Divide the youth into no more than four groups. Give each group the two sheets of the handout and have them choose foods from that list to create a meal. Each group should report their meal to the larger group. Have a recorder count the number of ounces from the Grains Group. (If limited on time, design some meals as a large group.) The foods from the Grains Group, with the number of ounces in parentheses, are: Cup of cereal (1) Slice of toast (1) Bagel (4) 1 c. mac & cheese (2) 3 pancakes (3) Waffle (1) 7 square crackers (1) Slice of pizza (1) Dinner roll (1) 1 c. spaghetti (2) Slice of bread (1) Rice pudding (1) Cheese sandwich (2) Graham cracker (1) Ravioli (1) Ham sandwich (2) Corn muffin (1) Taco (1) Bean burrito (1) 1 c. chicken and noodles (2) Discuss how the groups came up with different solutions, even though they all started with lists of the same foods. How did you decide how many ounces were in your meal? What was difficult? What was easy? How could you do this at home? In the store? Which foods were whole grain? Did you get half of your grains from whole grains? If you were planning an entire day, how much more 6:2I Professor Popcorn Investigating 6:2J In-class handout Create a Meal Grab Bag (one copy for each group)
10. Physical Activity You can incorporate physical activity into Lesson/Activity 9 by having youth walk around and form groups based on whether their meal contained one ounce, two ounces, etc., of Grains Group foods. Then you can ask them to regroup based on meal, by refined, by whole grain, etc. OR Human Mirror Have the youth pick a partner. Have one partner make a movement and hold it. Their partner must mirror that movement. Remind the youth they are to do exercisetype moves that require movement of arms/hands over head or in a workout style. Once one has been the leader, let the other person lead. 11. Food Safety Activity Check agar plates and instruct the youth to record their observations on in-class handout 6:1J, initiated in Lesson 1. (At each lesson, determine if the experiment should continue this will be a function of the amount of time between lessons.) Use Visual 6:2K to reintroduce the Fight BAC! Rules of clean, cook, separate, and chill. Let s focus on clean. Activity: Divide youth into groups, and give these instructions: Choose a meal, either one you normally make for yourself or one that you chose from the handout in Lesson/Activity 9. Make a list of all the steps you go through to make that meal: getting milk from refrigerator, getting a cup from cabinet, pouring milk, etc. Then make a list of all the surfaces and utensils that come into contact with the food. Finally, describe how you might clean each of those surfaces to be sure you are not putting germs on your food. (Don t forget to wash your hands!!) 6:2K Fight BAC! Rules Clean Cook Separate Chill Wash the counter Wash the utensils Wash your hands
Adapted by Texas A & M AgriLife Extension from original work: Frischie, S. (1993). Switzer, B. (2002). Vandergraff, D., & Coleman, G. (2006). Exploring My Pyramid with Professor Popcorn, Purdue University Extension/Consumer and Family Sciences/4-H Youth Development. Adapted with permission for use in Kentucky, from adapted materials: Scott, A. (2012). Exploring MyPlate with Professor Popcorn, Texas A & M AgriLife Extension. Brooke Howard-Jenkins, M.S. Nutrition Education Program Curriculum Coordinator Educational programs of Kentucky Cooperative Extension serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability or national origin.