Nutrition and Healthy Eating: Fueling Your Body for Learning and Life

Nutrition and Healthy Eating: Fueling Your Body for Learning and Life

Grade 4 · Health · NYS Health Standards 1.4.1 / 1.4.2 · 45 Minutes

NYS-Aligned Standards

Health Standard 1.4.1 — Explain the importance of nutrition to health, growth, and development. Health Standard 1.4.2 — Describe the relationship between healthy behaviors and personal health. NYS Learning Standards for Health, Physical Education, and Family and Consumer Sciences (2020)

Learning Objectives — “I Can” Statements

• I can identify the five main food groups and give examples of foods in each.
• I can explain what nutrients are (carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals) and what they do for the body.
• I can design a balanced meal that includes foods from multiple food groups.

Essential Question

What does your body need from food — and how does what you eat affect how you feel and learn?

Lesson Sequence

Hook / Warm-Up (7 min)

“What did you eat for breakfast? Let’s make a class list.” Record student responses on the board. Ask: “Do you think this gives your body what it needs? How do you know?”

Direct Instruction (12 min)

1. Five food groups (MyPlate framework — public domain USDA content):
   • Fruits, Vegetables, Grains, Protein, Dairy
2. Key nutrients and roles:
   • Carbohydrates — energy
   • Protein — building and repairing muscles
   • Fats — brain development and energy storage
   • Vitamins/Minerals — body functions (e.g., calcium for bones, iron for blood)
3. Connection to learning: “Your brain needs fuel too. Studies show that eating breakfast improves focus and memory.”
4. Brief discussion: “Not everyone has the same access to food — sometimes healthy eating is harder for some families. That doesn’t mean those families aren’t doing their best.”

Meal Design Activity (15 min)

Students design a “Super Lunch” on a provided plate template. Must include at least 3 food groups. Then answer: “What nutrients does your meal provide? How does this help your body?”

Gallery Walk (6 min)

Post plates around the room. Students leave sticky notes on 2 others: “I notice ___ food group here” and “One nutrient this provides is ___.”

Closure (5 min)

Exit ticket: “Name 2 nutrients and explain what each one does for your body.”

SDI & Differentiation Block

Supports for MLLs/ELLs

Entering/Emerging (NYSESLAT Levels 1–2):

• Food group visual cards (photographs of common foods with group labels in English and, if available, home language)
• Plate template allows drawing instead of writing
• Sentence frame: “My lunch has ___. It gives my body ___ (energy/protein/vitamins).”
• Honor culturally diverse foods — rice and beans = grains + protein; arepas = grains, etc.

Transitioning/Expanding (NYSESLAT Levels 3–4):

• Nutrient vocabulary: carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamin, mineral, energy
• Sentence frame for exit ticket: “Protein helps your body ___ because ___.”

Supports for Students with IEPs

SDI Adaptation Dimensions: content, methodology, delivery

• Content: Focus on 3 food groups only; reduce exit ticket to 1 nutrient
• Methodology: Pre-sort food picture cards into groups together before the plate activity; reduce cognitive load
• Delivery: Provide pre-labeled plate template with group sections marked; allow verbal exit ticket response

Suggested Placement: ICT, Resource Room

Answer Key / Model Response

Exit ticket model: “Protein helps your body build and repair muscles. Carbohydrates give your body energy to move and think.”

Balanced plate example: Grilled chicken (protein) + brown rice (grain) + broccoli (vegetable) + orange slices (fruit) + milk (dairy)

Alignment Record