Lesson 1 A Good Balance Behavioral Objectives Students will: 1. Be introduced to the Celebrate Health program. 2. Identify healthy eating and physical activity as important health behaviors and as factors that contribute to energy balance.* 3. Distinguish between GO foods and WHOA foods.* *Learning Objective Suggested Time Outline: Lesson 1 Activities Audio/Visual Student Materials 11 1. Story and Discussion Story Transparency A 10 2. Game 4 3. Summary 25 minutes Students will walk around the perimeter of the classroom during the game. 1
Activity 1: Story and Discussion Purpose: To be introduced to the Celebrate Health program; to identify healthy eating and physical activity as important health behaviors and as factors that contribute to energy balance. For background information, see FYI: GO Foods and WHOA Foods and FYI: Physical Activity in the back of this teacher s manual. A. Using the following dialogue box, introduce the Celebrate Health program. In first grade, you learned about being healthy. The CATCH program called Hooray for Health! taught you ways to be healthy. Good health is so important that today we re going to start a new program to learn more about how to be healthy. The program is called Celebrate Health. We celebrate things and events that are special or important. For example, many people celebrate holidays and their birthdays. Why do you think we should celebrate good health? (Because it s so important to be healthy) How do you feel when you re healthy? (Possible answers: Strong; happy; full of energy; able to play for a long time; not sick) What happens when kids aren t healthy? (Possible answers: They can t play as much. They get sick a lot. They don t have energy. They have more trouble learning at school.) It s good to be healthy now and also when you re older. That s why in the Celebrate Health program you re going to find out more things you can do to be healthy. Let s start the program with a story. Two of the characters in the story were in the kindergarten and first grade CATCH programs. They re friends named Gus Goodfood and Jumping Jacki. [Point out the characters on the see-saw in the story illustration (Transparency A).] They don t live on our planet, Earth. Do you remember where they live? (A faraway planet called Planet Strongheart) In this story you ll also meet their friend Zig Zagulous. [Point out the character approaching the see-saw. The name Zagulous is pronounced similarly to fabulous.] 2
Listen carefully to the story to see what Gus Goodfood and Jumping Jacki tell Zig Zagulous. B. Read the Story: A Good Balance, leaving the illustration (Transparency A) on view, if possible. C. After reading the story, ask the following questions to review GO and WHOA foods. Soft drink is used in the CATCH program. If participants call this type of beverage soda, pop, or soda pop, you may want to do one of the following: (1) point out that soft drink refers to the same type of beverage; (2) substitute the word they use for soft drink throughout the lesson. What GO foods did Gus Goodfood bring to the park? (Bananas, baby carrots, and whole-wheat crackers) You learned in first grade about GO and WHOA foods. Let s review what they are. In the CATCH program, foods are divided into three groups: GO, SLOW, and WHOA. GO foods are the healthiest foods. WHOA foods aren t very healthy at all. And SLOW foods are in-between. When you re older, you ll learn about SLOW foods. In Celebrate Health, you ll hear about GO and WHOA foods. Almost all fruits, vegetables, and beans are GO foods. Plain low-fat milk and yogurt are GO foods. Most foods made with whole-wheat are GO foods. Baked fish and baked chicken without the skin are GO foods too. What were the WHOA foods Zig Zagulous thought he could eat a lot of, just as long as he did physical activities too? (Candy, ice cream, and chocolate cookies) What are the unhealthy things in WHOA foods that Jumping Jacki told Zig Zagulous about? (Unhealthy kinds of fat and sugar) Listen to some other WHOA foods: chips, doughnuts, soft drinks, and sugary cereals. Also, all foods that are fried are WHOA foods. So are fried french fries a WHOA food? (Yes) 3
D. Ask the following questions about energy balance and physical activity. WHOA foods aren t bad foods. But, just like Gus Goodfood said, eating too many WHOA foods makes it harder to keep your body in energy balance. What were the two kinds of energy Gus Goodfood said you should keep in balance? (The energy your body gets from food, and the energy your body uses up to grow and do physical activities) Why did Zig Zagulous not have any energy to play when he got to the park? (He had eaten so little that his body hadn t gotten enough energy from food.) What can happen if you regularly eat less food than your body needs? (Your body can get out of energy balance, and over time you might lose weight.) What can happen if you regularly eat more food than your body needs and uses up? (Your body can get out of energy balance, and over time you might gain too much weight.) Jumping Jacki said that doing physical activities every day helps your body stay in energy balance. Which physical activities were the kids going to do at the park? (Play ball, jump rope, run a zigzag race) And Gus Goodfood and Jumping Jacki did a physical activity to get to the park. What was it? (Riding bikes) Activity 2: Game Purpose: To distinguish between GO foods and WHOA foods. A. Students are going to play a game in which they walk around the perimeter of the classroom and respond to GO and WHOA foods you announce. B. Use the following dialogue box to explain the game. Let s use what you ve learned about GO foods and WHOA foods to play a game. Here s how to play. 4
You ll walk around the room in a big circle while I call out foods. If I say a GO food, stop moving and turn and face the center of the circle. If I say a WHOA food, stop moving and turn and face the outside of the circle. As we play the game, I ll tell you different ways to walk. At all times, be careful not to run into another student. Direct students to their starting points, leaving space between each student. In approximately ten-second intervals, call out the foods from the lists that follow, mixing up GO foods and WHOA foods. After calling out the first few foods, also periodically direct students to change their walking style by telling them to do one of the following: tiptoe take baby steps take giant steps GO Foods Carrots Bananas Pineapple Baked fish Brown rice Watermelon Corn tortillas Baked chicken Cucumber slices Plain low-fat milk Plain low-fat yogurt Whole-wheat tortillas Whole-wheat crackers Pinto beans cooked without fat or salt swing their arms while walking walk as if they were on thin ice about to break WHOA Foods Ice cream Candy bar Corn chips Potato chips Sugary cereal Sugar cookies Chocolate cake Soft drink (soda) Activity 3: Summary Purpose: To review the main points of Lesson 1. A. Tell students that during the Celebrate Health program they will play games, hear stories, and make and eat a snack. Tell them that in the next lesson they are going to learn about one of the things that can make foods unhealthy. 5
B. Ask students to name the two things Zig Zagulous discovered he could do to be healthy. (Eat more GO foods than WHOA foods; do GO activities) Encourage them to do these things every day or as often as they can. C. Tell students to think of advice they could give Zig Zagulous so he will eat more GO foods than WHOA foods. As time allows, have several students name specific ideas. (Possible answers: Eat cake only on special occasions. Eat chips with a sandwich only sometimes. Eat cookies for a snack every once in a while, but eat a piece of fruit for a snack most of the time.) 6
LESSON 1 * STORY A Good Balance One Saturday Gus Goodfood and Jumping Jacki rode their bikes to the park. Their friend Zig Zagulous was going to meet them there. The three Planet Strongheart kids were going to play in the park until dinner-time. While Gus Goodfood and Jumping Jacki waited for their friend, they unpacked their backpacks. Jacki took out a ball and three jump ropes. Gus put three bananas, a bag of baby carrots, and a box of whole-wheat crackers on a picnic table. He said, Look at these GO foods I brought for a snack. Zig Zagulous still didn t come. Gus Goodfood and Jumping Jacki ran races while they waited. Then they played on the see-saw. They were perfectly balanced on the see-saw when they saw their friend slowly walking toward them. Right away, Gus Goodfood and Jumping Jacki knew something wasn t right. Their friend never walked slowly. Instead, he zigged and zagged, as fast as lightning, whenever he could. Gus Goodfood and Jumping Jacki got off the see-saw. What s wrong? asked Gus. I m tired and I don t have any energy, moaned Zig Zagulous. I don t even feel like playing. But you always want to play! exclaimed Jumping Jacki. Zig Zagulous sighed. Maybe it s because the only thing I ve eaten all day is a little bowl of cereal. Of course that s why, said Gus Goodfood. Your body gets energy from food. And it uses up energy to grow and also to do physical activities like walking and playing ball and jumping rope. Those are two different kinds of energy. And it s best to keep the amounts of each kind of energy in balance. Hey, Gus. Let s show Zig what you mean, said Jumping Jacki. Get back on the see-saw. When she and Gus were perfectly balanced again, she said to Zig Zagulous, Your body can be in balance, kind of like this see-saw is. Your body is in energy balance when it uses up all the food you eat. You can help your body stay in energy balance by doing physical activities every day and eating mostly GO foods. Gus Goodfood and Jumping Jacki got off the see-saw. Gus said, But if you eat less food than your body needs, your body gets out of energy balance, and over time you might lose weight. 7
Jumping Jacki said, If you eat more food than your body needs and uses up, your body gets out of energy balance, and over time you might gain too much weight. I get it! said Zig Zagulous. I can eat all the candy and ice cream and chocolate cookies I want to just as a long as I do lots of physical activities too. No! cried Gus Goodfood and Jumping Jacki at the same time. Candy and ice cream and chocolate cookies are full of unhealthy kinds of fat and sugar! said Jumping Jacki. And foods that contain unhealthy kinds of fat and sugar are WHOA foods! Gus Goodfood explained, Eating too many WHOA foods makes it harder to keep your body in energy balance. That s why you should eat more GO foods than WHOA foods. What are some GO foods? asked Zig Zagulous. These bananas and baby carrots and whole-wheat crackers I brought are GO foods, said Gus Goodfood, pointing to the picnic table. So are beans and brown rice and corn tortillas. And eggs and low-fat milk and yogurt, said Jumping Jacki. Wow! I ve learned a lot in just a few minutes! said Zig Zagulous. He looked at the ball and jump ropes. Then he sat down at the picnic table and said, Why don t we eat a GO snack first and then play? Sure! said Jumping Jacki. Gus Goodfood said, And we ll do a zigzag race to the ball field! 8
LESSON 1 * TRANSPARENCY A Story Illustration for A Good Balance 9