
Teaching in China comes with it's own frustrations, so my goal for my students is to challenge them to take accountability for what they are putting into their bodies. At the beginning of the "nutrition unit," I challenge them to question what 'big named' companies are forcing them to read on the front of the everyday packaging of food they consume. Students see claims such as "all natural" and "made with real fruit," but don't think to look where it counts (eg., the back of the box on the nutrition and ingredients label). If you are still thinking about that "made with real fruit" comment, maybe you can have a look for yourself.
I can give credit to the FDA for trying to regulate as much as they can, but when a cereal claims to be "lightly sweetened," our minds process it as "low sugar." However, that's not the case and my students needed a practical lesson in word smithing so they can understand how companies use these words to mislead consumers' thoughts about food sources. After a brief introduction, I turned them loose and challenged them to tell me about a nutritional "fact" they knew of and to find out if it was just that, a fact, or if it was a faux pas.
So here is what I am willing to share with you all: Although my students' thoughts are still in the process of being developed, I opened up the question of "nutritional claims" to my students in grade 6, 8 and 10, and here is what they came up with. Feel free to have a look and if you'd like drop me a connection on Google Drive, we could collaborate to make the assignment even better! Thanks again for respecting their work and I'll talk with you soon!