Pre-Proposal for Expeditionary Unit
By Maxwell Gallahan and Paul Boslego
INTRODUCTION
This learning inquiry aims to promote positive citizenship and an opportunity at self-discovery for the students focusing on developing techniques and knowledge for a healthy lifestyle. The inquiry will be utilizing various activities that all involve the domains of health, biology, math and English. The target audience is 6th graders in Rockbridge county and trying to not only focus on addressing their standards of learning for health but also hopefully expanding their knowledge of health in more practical means. The inquiry will address specifically the Virginia Department of Education’s standards of learning for 6th graders, namely, to help students “Analyze the benefits of following recommended daily allowances for macronutrients when selecting beverages and planning meals and snacks” and “Analyze the recommended daily intake of macronutrients (carbohydrates, fat, and protein) for adolescent males and females.” In addition, the inquiry will try to cater to the education in the Rockbridge county environment, being one that is difficult to execute a healthy lifestyle for various reasons. Explicitly providing tips, information, and strategies to combat their difficult environments while also hopefully developing ideas to make the environment more health friendly. In reference to EL education, Core Practice 30 (ELEd, 72), boosting and empowering student achievement, as well as Core Practices 5 (ELEd, 9), promoting social, emotional, and physical wellbeing, both are present in this inquiry and are the goals end points at the end of the educational experience. Lastly, the driving question that the students will be trying to answer is “How could Rockbridge county or Maury River Middle School improve its environment to create an environment that promotes health both in school and at home?”
COMMUNITY EXPERT OPPORTUNITY
There are various community experts that we could tap into to provide expertise and collaborate with the students. Linda Miguire, a dietary consultant at the Rockbridge Area Health Center, offers a person with a clear expertise in the field that we are exploring, specifically dietary guidelines. In addition, she is a source that is within the community that understands the environment that these students come from, meaning she could provide advice on how to combat environmental factors when struggling to execute a healthy lifestyle. In addition to Linda, the VMI physical education department offers another great resource to tap into that can provide additional in county expertise. Namely, Jim Greiner and Diane Moosman are those in the department that I have had contact with in terms of both dietary consulting and physical fitness. Ideally, if one of these experts could visit the classroom, they could run one session to either back up information the weeks prior have emphasized or answer questions for students after they have created or explore their own personal enhanced diets.
COLLECTED RESEARCH
On the first visit, the students quizzed us with various questions. Many of the questions had to do with our own health or sports related questions. That showed that the kids were active and/or into an active lifestyle. Then, we got to ask a few questions about the kids and their leisure time, and many of their answers revolved around sports or other activities that are encompassed in a healthy lifestyle. However, there were still a fair amount of overweight kids in the class. So, it was clear that they had some of the puzzle pieces to the equation, but not all of them.
On the second visit, we asked the class what they knew about a healthy lifestyle and what kind of health education they had received. Their responses to the first question consisted of generic responses such as: eating fast food is bad, exercise, eat vegetables, etc. The students indicated that they had some education from the physical education department. This education, however, was extremely brief.
This research more than anything shows that there is a lack of education on nutrition and exercise in Rockbridge County Schools, however not a lack of interest. It shows the emphasis is not present and education efforts are directed elsewhere to more quantitative endeavors, such as test scores. It may also indicate that there is a lack of education coming from their families. Their families may think that they are unable to eat healthy or that they do not have the time to prepare healthy meals.
POTENTIAL ACTIVITIES
One potential activity is talking about different apps or websites that students can download and use to understand the nutrition they are getting. Many of these apps break down all the nutrition information in a context that is easy to understand. These apps also give calorie allowances based on age, weight, and height. They also can provide guidelines for safe weight loss. And through the app they could understand their daily diet and bring that information into class and understand how that does or does not meet their body’s needs. Depending on each individual diet, we would provide strategies and tips of ways to fix their diet in order to fix their macro and micro intake. Here, they will also be focusing on how the food makes them feel, both short term and long term during this process.
With all that combined, we can make a lesson plan that talks about nutrition and food choices and then allow the students to use their Chromebooks to figure out what they are eating. They can then determine if their nutritional goals are being met or not. Then they can compare and contrast their findings and try to defend their findings. This activity would be focused on food that they would find and have available in Rockbridge County.
Another option is to create a lesson plan revolving around evaluating nutrition labels to determine if what they are eating is good for them or not. Options for accomplishing this could be: reading physical nutrition labels and evaluating them, looking up things they have eaten that day and evaluating them. The students could then create a poster that is posted around the school or they will present their findings in a relevant capacity.
The last option is to create a lesson plan that helps students choose the “healthier” option. It could be done by comparing nutrition labels, knowing which foods need to be eaten more/less…etc. Options for sharing their finding could be a presentation to another class or making posters on it and having them displayed throughout the school.
GOALS/ CALENDAR
Week 1: (Education week)
-Educate the students on various macronutrient and dietary standards
-Educate the students on exercise and the various avenues that they could take
-Educate the students on mental health exercises and stress management
Week 2: (Experiment week)
-Students will try different food, then go do physical activities
-Students will do a mental relaxation routine before one lecture a day
-Students will think about how different food makes them feel and make notes on their normal diets
-Record and consolidate all information gather this week
Week 3: (Proposal Week)
-Analyze the information gathered from the prior week
-Develop dietary plans for themselves
-Then students in groups will provide one proposal for the principle and one for their parents that could help improve their environment to truly execute their individualized health plan
FINAL PROJECT SHARING OPPORTUNITIES
The final sharing opportunity is either present their proposals to the class or their principle if that could be set up. This gives them the opportunity to consolidate all of their knowledge into proof as to why an environmental enhancement should be made in the community and what its benefits would be. This gives them an opportunity to both collaborate on their individual findings, compare, and then utilize their communication skills to get their point across.
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.https://issuu.com/carilionclinic/docs/2018_rockbridge_area_community_heal
*See pages: 60-3, 81, 85, 91, 103, 106-7 for statistics on the health and socioeconomic factors affecting it in Rockbridge County.
- FoundMyFitness.com, Dr. Rhonda Patrick podcast
*Dr. Rhonda Patrick provides scientific information on health, providing easy to understand answers on various health questions. She provides great insight and is someone who provides an unbiased perspective on health.
- Healthline.com, General health advice
* Healthline provides extra information on various common health questions. It can be offered to the students as an easy reference source to look at when they have a question on something health related.
*This is a health organization in Rockbridge county that can provide a local expert to bring into the school and help the kids speak with an expert in the field, Linda McGuire, a dietary consultant.
- http://www.schoolnutritionandfitness.com/index.php?sid=1495836575694&page=nutriandfit
* This is the homepage for the Rockbridge County Schools Food Service Department. It lists the current health and fitness goal for students in all grade levels. Such goals include physical activity five days a week, eating a healthy diet, and controlling portion sizes. It also includes resources for teachers, parents, and students.
6.https://ed.ted.com/lessons?category=nutrition&page=2
* The nonprofit behind Ted Talks has a series of videos on health and wellness. The presentation within these videos is designed to help educators explain health topics to a younger audience. These lessons focus on things such as: obesity, what are carbohydrates, added sugar, and misinformation about nutrition.
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