Lesson Plan: Healthy Eating

Lesson Level: Senior 1            Duration: 40

Lesson Title: A Healthy Diet

Grammar and Vocabulary

See notes for vocabulary

Lesson Objectives

Students will be able to find meanings of unfamiliar words using a dictionary.

Students will be able to discuss the topic (healthy eating)

Students will be able to offer advice.

Materials Required

See notes for materials

Preparation

Prepare and copy the attached notes. Make enough copies to give one per four students.

Procedure

1 (2 Minutes/ 2 Minutes)

Write “balanced diet” on board and elicit the meaning from class.

2 (10/12)

Put class into 10-12 groups.

Write the following list of words (in this order) on the left of the board.

apples, yoghurt, bread, beef, coca-cola, cheese, carrots, fish, peas, rice, potatoes, eggs, milk, chocolate, cakes, oranges, cream, noodles, beans, nuts, candy, fruit juice, lamb, spaghetti

Divide the right hand board into five columns headed

Fruit and Vegetables,Starchy Foods (Energy),Protein (Build Your Body), Dairy (Strong Bones), Fat and Sugar

Get each group in turn to choose a food and tell you which column to put it in. If wrong ask rest of class.

Correct answers are

Fruit And Vegetables: apples, carrots, peas, oranges, fruit juice

Starch: bread, rice, potatoes, noodles, spaghetti

Protein: beef, fish, eggs, beans, nuts, lamb

Dairy: milk, cheese, yoghurt, cream

Fat and Sugar: coca-cola, chocolate, cakes, candy

3 (10/22)

Give reading handout and vocabulary test to each group

Tell groups they don't need (yet) to read the whole handout.

Groups must find words from test in dictionaries and write down the meanings.

4 (8/30)

Elicit correct meanings and write on board.

5. (5/35)

Write this description on the board

Mike is a fifty-year-old teacher.

He is a little overweight and eats a lot of fatty food and packaged food from supermarkets.

Because of his job he often misses lunch altogether.

He doesn't smoke and only drinks alcohol occasionally.

He always likes a snack when he has a cup of tea.

What advice would you give him?

Groups discuss the advice they would give to this teacher.

6 (5/40)

Elicit feedback from groups.

Notes

Reading text and vocabulary task.

Eating the right things

Trying to eat more of the right things does not mean 'going on a diet', especially not a quick-fix diet. True, you may lose weight, but it could well be only temporary and you could be less healthy as some diets don't provide all the things you need.

There's no such thing as a single superfood which contains every nutrient you'll need, so only by eating a varied diet will you get all you need to stay healthy. There are five main food groups and you should eat a good balance of each of them.

Fruit and vegetables

Fresh fruit and vegetables, frozen, canned, and dried fruit & vegetables all count. You should try to eat at least five portions of fruit & veg each day. Juice also counts as a portion, but however much you drink in a day it will only count as one portion. This is because juice doesn't contain as much fibre as whole fruit.

Bread, potatoes and cereals (including noodles, pasta and rice)

Foods like these should make up half your plate. They are your body's main source of energy. Surprisingly, potatoes also contain vitamin C and absolutely no fat.

Lean meat, fish, poultry, eggs, nuts, beans

All of these provide protein, which helps your body rebuild itself (repairing damaged muscles, hair, nails etc). If you're vegetarian or vegan you're not going to eat the meat & fish... but eating soya also does this and there are smaller amounts in grains and dairy products.

Milk and dairy products

These are a source of calcium, which strengthens your bones and teeth and helps your muscles and nerves function properly. The best products are those having lower fat. A pint of milk a day is enough to ensure you're getting the recommended amount of calcium. 

 

Foods containing fat and sugar

Fat is a great energy source, but fatty foods don't contain very many nutrients. Just one gram of fat contains about nine calories so unless you take a lot of exercise your body will retain the fat and you'll put on weight. But don't avoid eating fat altogether - your body needs energy and in smaller doses fat is an important part of healthy eating. 

Vocabulary Task 

There are many unusual words that you will see when you read about diet and nutrition.

Here are some words from the article.

quick-fix		anything in the food that your body needs
variety		someone who doesn't eat meat, fish, cheese or eggs
recommended		vegetable food that can be uses instead of meat
nutrient		a solution that works quickly but might not be very good
fibre		part of the food that is not digested but helps your digestion
vegan		needed to prevent Scurvy (remember yesterday!) and found in many kinds of fruit
soya		many different things
calcium		needed to build healthy muscles, found in meat, nuts, soya and other foods
vitamin C		a measure of how much energy you get from food
protein		a mineral needed for strong bones and teeth
calories		said to be good or correct