Pyramid Explorations™

The Five Food Groups

The Five Food Groups
After identifying factors that affect personal health and focusing in on good nutrition, students read Act I of The Pyramid Explorations™ Theater. They discuss foods in each food group and review of how each food group keeps them healthy. They end the activity writing a short letter to space aliens.

• Name all Five Food Groups in the Food Guide Pyramid
• Identify factors that affect personal health
• Name at least five foods in each food group
• State one way each food group keeps them healthy

• Folders for storing Pyramid Explorations™ materials (1 per student)
  
• The Pyramid Explorations™ Theater, Act I PDF (1 per student)
  
• Review Act I and decide the number of students for small reading groups. Options for small groups include:
  • 8 students in a group - 1 character per student
  • 6 students in a group - Students who read E-TEC Elroid and E-TEC Treena also read Bob and Jill
  • 5 students in a group - Assign Manny Grins' role to the student who also reads E-TEC Elroid and Bob
• A Letter to an Alien PDF worksheet (1 per student)
• Optional: Alpha-dot PDF worksheet (1 per student)
• Optional: Picture of Health PDF worksheet (1 per student)

• Begin by asking students what it means to be healthy. If "10" is very important and "1" is not very important, have students show you with their fingers how important good health is to them. Summarize students' responses.
• Ask students take out a piece of paper and write three things they can do to stay healthy. Ask several to name one thing on their list. Write it on the chalkboard. Ask other students to raise their hand if the item mentioned was one of the three things they listed. After all words are listed, circle the word "nutrition" or "food."
• Ask each student to think of a nutritious food they like then turn to another student and tell them the name the food. On the chalkboard or newsprint, write "Nutritious Food Brainstorm." Ask students to share the name of the food their partner said. List each food. Note: If a student names a food from the "Others" category, add it to the list for now.
• Tell students they're going to read a six-act play featuring two space aliens and two earth kids to learn more about how to keep their bodies healthy by eating a healthy diet.
• Distribute Act I, "The Aliens Arrive." Assign roles and have students read the act in small groups. Position the groups so they can read with minimal disruption to one another.
• Remind students that the play mentioned Five Food Groups. Call on five students to name the Five Food Groups. Review the foods in each group and one health benefit as follows:
  • What are some of the foods in the _____________ Group? (Accept several responses.)
  • Which foods from the "Nutritious Foods Brainstorm" belong in the ______________ Group?
  • How do _____________ Group foods keep you healthy?
  • Now I want you to show me how _____________Group foods keep the body healthy without talking. (Give several students the opportunity to act out the health benefit of the food group.)

  Milk Group (Build strong bones and teeth.)
  Meat Group (Build strong muscles.)
  Vegetable Group (Help you see in the dark.)
  Fruit Group (Help heal cuts and bruises.)
  Grain Group (Give us energy.)

• Summarize by saying:
  • Here is a key idea. Nutritious foods keep us healthy. If a food belongs to one of the Five Food Groups, it is nutritious. If a food belongs in the "Others" category, it isn't nutritious.

  Note: Save the "Nutritious Food Brainstorm" list for the "Body Building Snacks are Meals" and "Winning Combinations" activities.

• Optional: Distribute and have students complete the Alpha-dot and Picture of Health worksheets. Review and have students correct any wrong answers.
• Distribute and have students complete the last three lines of A Letter to an Alien and sign their name. Select several students to read what they wrote.

Going Further
Food Pantomimes
Divide students into five teams, one for each food group. Ask students to identify three nutritious foods in each food group and develop a pantomime for the food. Give each team a chance to perform and have the class identify the foods.

School Meal Favorites
Distribute a copy of this week's school lunch or breakfast menu. Make a chart on the chalkboard with five columns - one for each food group. As a class, complete the chart by sorting foods from the menu into the Five Food Groups. Select one of the food groups. Ask students to vote for their favorite food from that group. Tally and have students make a bar graph depicting the survey results.

Note: PDF documents require the Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you don't have Acrobat Reader, click here to download a free copy.

Note: This activity is from the Pyramid Explorations™ student workbook. Pyramid Explorations™ is available from your local dairy council. Click here for contact information.

Reviews

Following are reviews submitted by visitors. Find out how to submit your own rating and review.

Title: Review
Submitted by: Anonymous

Title: helpful
Submitted by: Anonymous

the entire website was and is very helpful. I was so excited to find a free resource for teaching low functioning adults about the pyramid!
thank you!

Title: Food Groups
Submitted by: Laura from Keokuk

I look forward to these lessons each year because of the enthusiasm my students have for the play and characters. We also make sure to treat from each of the
food groups:-)