Part of Lesson Plan: Classes of Nutrients

Activity Overview / Details

(10 - 15 minutes) Ask students to watch a video clip of a milk commercial and listen for the reasons milk is important. They may want to capture the information as they watch the commercial. After the commercial, elicit student responses.

Ask students to close their eyes and picture a morning that their alarm clock did not go off. It is 7:52, school starts at 8:00am and you have a five minute walk to school. You rush to throw on some clothes, hoping they match. Grab your back pack and run out the door. As you are sitting in third period, you feel your stomach start to growl. You realize that in your rush to get to school you did not get to eat breakfast. Think about how you feel? (Allow 15-20 seconds for students to think) Now open your eyes and capture those feelings on your paper. Ask a few students to share their feeling. The teacher may want to ask some leading questions, such as - "Will you be able to focus on learning with your stomach growling? What is your physical state, do you have a headache, stomach ache, etc.?"

Ask those students who play sports to identify themselves. Select those students to discuss the food items they eat prior to a game. How do wrestler's feel when they need to cut weight? When football players are having a team dinner before their game, what kinds of food are they eating and do they know why?

The teacher may choose to integrate some information about the food guide pyramid at this point.

Just as nutrients are important to people, they are also important to animals. As agriculturalists it is essential that we understand the 5 classes of nutrients and their functions.