11. Speaking. Produce a puppet show about the MyPlate tool. Perform the puppet show
for children in your neighborhood. Use speech that is suitable for the age of your
audience. Be sure to speak clearly and at a volume that can be heard while making
eye contact.
12. Reading. Visit the websites of three fast-food restaurants. Use the Dietary Guidelines
and MyPlate to plan a fast-food meal. What foods would you need to eat at other meals
to balance the meal? Cite information you fi nd in the Dietary Guidelines and MyPlate
that served as the basis for your food choices.
13. Writing. Make a poster about the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Explain why the
Guidelines are important. Include tips on how teens can follow the guidelines. Make the
poster appealing to increase interest in the topic. Display the poster in your classroom.
14. Math. Create a display for your classroom that shows how much saturated fat or
sugar is in foods. Collect empty food packages. Use the Nutrition Facts panel on the
packages to determine how much fat or sugar is in each food. Measure the equivalent
amounts of fat or sugar in each food. You can use ¼ teaspoon of vegetable shortening
or margarine to represent about one gram of fat. Measure the fat onto small pieces of
waxed paper. You can use a sugar cube to represent two grams of sugar. Place the fat
or sugar cubes beside the food packages.
15. Math, Science. Discover how much sugar is in soft drinks. Mix a 12-ounce bottle of
seltzer water with 10 teaspoons of corn syrup or sugar. (Sugar will not dissolve as
easily as corn syrup.) Add ¼ teaspoon of your favorite fl avoring. Orange, lime, lemon,
or grape fl avorings make good choices. Then, add a few drops of food coloring. Did you
know soft drinks contained so much sugar? Design an experiment to test how using
sugar substitutes instead of sugar affects the taste and calories in soft drinks.
16. CTE Career Readiness Practice. Do some sodium sleuthing. Examine the lists of
ingredients found on a variety of food packages. Interpret the labels to determine which
foods have sodium listed. Do any foods list sodium more than once in the ingredients?
Make a poster that lists ways to decrease the sodium in your diet. You could title your
list “How to Shake the Sodium Habit” and hang it on your refrigerator as a reminder.
Using Technology
17. Assume you are a television news reporter and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans
have just been released. Your assignment is to write and video-record a one-minute
news story for the six o’clock news. Share your video with the class.
18. Put on a good nutrition campaign at school. Write slogans, make mobiles, and create
advertisements for eating a varied diet. Create posters and fact sheets using a poster-
making program.
19. List all the foods you ate yesterday. Go to www.ChooseMyPlate.gov and click on
SuperTracker & Other Tools. Follow the instructions to analyze your diet. Did you get
the recommended amount from each food group? If not, how could you improve your diet?
Chapter 3 Your Nutrition Toolbox 69
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