Teacher Lesson Plan - Pyramid Power vs. Junk Food Bandits Basketball Movie

The students will build their knowledge of the importance of having balanced meals on a daily basis. The two teams (Healthy Team vs. Unhealthy Team) competing allows students to understand the importance of eating healthy so they have more energy to be active. The announcers discuss the two teams and how one team is doing much better than other because of what they are made of. Each members name on the healthy team relates to healthy foods while the unhealthy members names relate to junk food. Chef Solus appears at the end to reinforce that a healthy and balanced diet will allow you to be a winner. Before the movie starts, explain to the students that they will need to remember food items from the movie (You may want to have students keep a pencil and paper during the video so they can write down the foods they see).

 

Keyboard commands for nutrition game:

Mouse: To view the video, you have to put the cursor on the specific “play” symbol and click twice on the “play” symbol. Then, the movie will start automatically. Students may need to adjust the audio so they can hear properly. The volume is on the lower left side and can be adjusted with the cursor. The video can also be oversized, if you double click the symbol on the lower right hand side of the video (farthest to the right).

 

A high-speed Internet connection is recommended. Computer and Internet access, a media player.

 

Review good eating habits vs. bad eating habits. Review the food pyramid or My Plate and why the pyramid  or my plate is made up of the specific types of food groups. It would be nice to have a visual aide (actual food pyramid or my plate for each student). Use the “Food Pyramid Colorful Guide” from the Food Pyramid Printable section or the My Plate Food Groups Colorful Guide from the My Plate section from the Nourish Interactive Website. Also, review the reasons why junk food is not on the food pyramid or My Plate. Having a discussion will allow students to have a better background of healthy foods vs. unhealthy foods.

 

1. Have students write a small journal entry about what they have eaten in the last two to three days. For the younger students, have them write a journal entry about what they ate the day before (some may not remember so you may need to brainstorm with the whole group). Allow students to share what they have eaten in the previous days (you can do all students or take at least 10 responses).

 

2. After you have shared, have the students group there items into two groups healthy food vs. junk food (students can do this in pairs or individually). This will allow students to have a better understanding of what is considered healthy food vs. junk food.

 

3. Before the movie starts, explain to the students that they will need to remember food items from the movie (You may want to have students keep a pencil and paper during the video so they can write or draw the foods they see).

 

4. Guide the students to “Pyramid Power vs. Junk Food Bandits Basketball Movie”.

 

After “Pyramid Power vs. Junk Food Bandits Basketball Movie” allow your student’s to categorize the healthy food and the junk food they viewed in the video into two separate columns (1st column will be healthy food and 2nd column will be junk food). You will need to create a large graphic organizer with a replica for the two columns labeled so your student’s understand the concept and have a visual aide. After you are finished, allow students to report out how they categorized the food they saw throughout the video. This allows for an informal assessment. Have your student’s pick one healthy food from their column and reflect on “why it is considered a healthy food?” Then, create a second reflection from the junk food column of “why it is considered junk food?”



For younger students, allow them to do the same assessment, but with a partner. Your younger students will need more support during this portion. This will allow your student to develop more confidence in their abilities.

 

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