Pick+a+Better+Snack+&+Act

Indira Kumar Sustainability Education Curriculum Module #1 February 12, 2013


 * Pick a Better Snack & Act **

“The Iowa Nutrition Network's social marketing campaign, //Pick a// better //snack//TM encourages fruit and vegetable choices for snacks. The "& Act" represents the importance of daily physical activity. Iowa Nutrition Network partners worked together to develop //Pick a// better //snack//TM & Act so that multiple programs could use it. Key partners include the Iowa Department of Public Health, Iowa Food Assistance, Iowa Department of Education-Team Nutrition, Iowa State University Extension, Iowans Fit for Life and the Iowa WIC Program. The campaign includes in-class lessons as well as community-based social marketing materials.” ([])

The mission of Iowa Nutrition Network is to “enhance nutrition education among Iowans through innovative partnerships that promote healthful diet and lifelong physical activity.” ([])

Following lessons for grades K-3 are design to be taught by a nutrition educator. Each promotes a fruit or vegetable and engages students in experiential learning through a food tasting. All lesson components are provided at no cost below including copy-ready handouts. These monthly lessons are coordinated with the Pick a better snack BINGO cards. ([])

Individual lesson plans for grades K-1 and 2-3 focus on topics of selected fruits and vegetables. Each month concentrates on two fruits and two vegetables for each grade segment called Vary your Veggies and Focus on Fruits. Each lesson plan has a brief background with historical content, place of origin, nutritional value and interesting facts.

The lesson plan includes three different activities: //Do the Activity, Talk It Over and Apply.// // Do the Activity // utilizes hands-on activities and supplemental worksheets (Attachment #1). This lesson focuses on pineapples and avocados, two fruits that most children are not exposed to at a young age. Do the Activity involves investigative reasoning and thinking critically to observe an avocado and pineapple. // Tasting Opportunists // allow students to learn how to prepare (dissect), teach simple life skills and sustainable methodologies. Sensory involvement, utilizing taste, sight, texture and smell, really gives students hands-on participation. When a particular food is tasted, an X can be crossed of their bingo sheet and initiates motivation to a particular goal (Attachment #2). These types of activities prompt courageousness, trying new foods, and exposure to the unfamiliar among students // Talk It Over // can be done in large or small groups and reviews the investigation and accesses the students’ grasp of specific concepts. // Apply // introduces previous personal interaction from students. Have you eat avocados? How many? When might you eat a pineapple?

Combining the topics discussed in Sustainability Education with the methodologies in //Pick a Better Snack & Act// gives students an immersive learning experience with integrative, dynamic activities to think more critically about simple concepts.