Interactive Health Activities

Objective: Children will demonstrate their knowledge of the MyPyramid by making a MyPyramid Parfait. This lesson addresses Illinois Learning Goals 4 and 22.

Materials: Bowls, spoons, napkins, plastic gloves for server, paper or plastic table cloth with a large MyPyramid drawn on it, low-fat yogurt, low-fat pudding, banana slices, pineapple chunks, raisins, chopped peanuts, sunflower seeds, cake sprinkles, granola, broken graham crackers, crunchy whole-grain cereal.

Lesson:

1. Complete level one, lesson one on MyPyramid.
2. After an introduction to the MyPyramid, place the pyramid tablecloth on a table and let the children decide which pyramid group each food belongs in. Place each food in its corresponding food group.
3. Instruct children to build their own MyPyramid Parfait starting with a grain layer and moving across the Pyramid to the dairy and fruit groups.

Second to Fourth Grade

Objectives: Students learn how the heart works to deliver oxygen to the body and the importance of keeping it healthy. This lesson addresses Illinois Learning Goals 22 and 23.

Materials: Shower liner or plastic sheeting from a hardware store as big as you want the walk-through heart to be; 3/4-inch tape in blue, red, yellow and green; diagram of the heart from the American Heart Association; opaque or overhead projector; ping pong balls; crumpled paper.

Preparation: Make an enlarged heart by taping the plastic sheet to the wall and projecting the image onto it. Outline the lines, using blue tape for the right side of the heart and pulmonary arteries, yellow tape for the left side of the heart, pulmonary veins and aorta and green tape for arrows indicating direction of blood flow. Place on classroom floor.

Lesson:

1. Station two students in each of the lungs.

2. Instruct them to give ping pong balls (oxygen) to anyone who comes to them from the right side of the heart. Students cannot receive oxygen unless they have some waste (crumpled paper will do) to give up to the lungs.

3. Instruct remaining students to gather around the heart and whenever they see a person passing through a valve to say "lub dub" - the sound the valves make when closing.

4. Have students take turns passing through the heart. When they get to the aorta, they can either exit at the top (going to head and arms) or at the bottom (traveling to other parts of the body).

5. Have students prepare a heart-healthy snack such as the MyPyramid Parfait described above.

5th to 6th Grade

Objectives: Students will experience the impact of extra weight on the heart and will calculate the effect extra weight has on their own heart rate. This lesson addresses Illinois Learning Goals 6, 10, 11 and 22.

Materials: For this activity you will need a scale, watch with a second hand, empty milk jugs (two per every student) filled with water or sand to the weight of 10 pounds, stair-step platforms (one for every two students).

Lesson:

1. Explain concepts of a healthy body weight, overweight and obesity. Discuss factors which affect weight such as heredity, environment, activity level and energy intake. Explain that excess weight can be hazardous to health because it puts an extra burden on the heart.

2. Have students work with partners to record and label their resting heart rate in beats per minute (15 second pulse rate multiplied by four). The instructor serves as timekeeper. Students walk around the perimeter of the room for two minutes, then immediately record their 15 second pulse. Recovery pulse rate should be recorded after three to five minutes.

3. Students use the stair stepping device, stepping up and down for two minutes. Record heart rate and recovery rate again. Students repeat this step carrying one 10-pound milk jug and then two 10-pound milk jugs.

4. After simulating a 10 and 20 pound weight gain, students calculate the differences in their heart rate. Ask students if their hear rate went up with extra weight.

5. Explain that the best way to stay at a healthy weight is not to diet, but to exercise and make smart food choices.