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Content Area: Health

Grade Level: Middle Level (6-8)

Topic: Estimating Food Portion Sizes

Class Composition

Age Range: 11-13
School Type: Not Specified
Primary Nationality:  
Primary Ethnicity:  
Special Needs:  

Concept: Metric Units, Metric/Imperial Conversions, Portion vs. Serving Size

Key Ideas:

1. Nutrition labels measure fats, carbohydrates, and proteins in grams.

2. For grams to become a familiar unit of measure, it's helpful to compare them to the weights of everyday objects. For example, a dime and a paperclip weigh about a gram.

3. A serving size is the unit used to measure the daily amount of a food group recommended by the American Dietetic Association.

4. Often the portions of food we are served in restaurants are greater than a serving size.

5. In the absence of a scale, it's helpful to be able to estimate portion sizes by comparing ADA definitions of serving size for various foods with commonly found objects. For example, a serving size for a baked potato is about the size of a computer mouse, so a larger potato would exceed one serving size.

Error Patterns:

1. Students may not find the gram a meaningful unit of measure.

2. Students may not know the recommended daily number of servings of particular food groups.

3. Students may confuse portion size with serving size.

Response Strategies:

See the interactive game:

What Does A Serving Size Look Like?

Interactive Representation:

What Does a Serving Size Look Like?


References and Resources:


http://www.eatright.org/Public/
     Home Page of the American Dietetic Association        
Interactive game designer: Michael Beets

Submitted: 6/13/2003 12:26:09 PM
Document ID: 21

 

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