Lesson Plan
Nutrition To Exercise Guide
Students will analyze nutrition facts from various foods and design exercise routines that match the foods’ energy values, reinforcing the connection between healthy eating and physical performance.
Understanding how nutrition fuels activity empowers students to make healthier choices and see real-world links between diet and exercise, boosting both health and motivation.
Audience
6th Grade Small Group
Time
25 minutes
Approach
Interactive analysis and routine design
Materials
Prep
Prepare Materials
10 minutes
- Review the Eat Right, Move Right slide-deck to familiarize yourself with key talking points.
- Print enough copies of My Performance Plate and Nutrition-Exercise Match for each group.
- Prepare a sample nutrition label and exercise chart to model expected student work.
- Organize students into small groups of 3–4 for Tier 2 support.
Step 1
Introduction & Hook
5 minutes
- Activate prior knowledge: ask students what they eat before PE and how it makes them feel.
- Display the first 3 slides of Eat Right, Move Right to introduce macronutrients and energy.
- Use sentence starters as scaffolds: "I noticed that ___ has ___ calories, which could fuel me to ___.”
Step 2
Nutrition Facts Analysis
8 minutes
- Distribute My Performance Plate.
- In groups, students select 2–3 foods on the worksheet and record calories, protein, carbs, and fats.
- Provide guiding questions: “Which food has the most energy? How long could you run with these calories?”
- Circulate and prompt with Tier 2 supports: visual cues, checklists, and one-on-one questioning.
Step 3
Exercise Routine Design
8 minutes
- Hand out Nutrition-Exercise Match for reference examples.
- Groups use their calorie totals to plan a 15-minute exercise routine (e.g., jumping jacks, jogging, squats) that would burn a similar amount of energy.
- Encourage use of icons and simple charts to map exercises to calorie burn rates.
- Offer sentence frames: “If I eat ___ calories, I can do ___ minutes of ___ to burn them off.”
Step 4
Share & Reflect
4 minutes
- Each group presents one food and its exercise plan to the class.
- Facilitate a quick reflection: “How did pairing food and exercise help you understand energy balance?”
- Summarize the lesson’s key takeaway: healthy eating fuels performance, and exercise uses that energy.
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Slide Deck
Welcome to “Eat Right, Move Right”
• Today we’re exploring how the foods we eat fuel our bodies for exercise.
• We’ll learn about macronutrients, calories, and how to match food energy to physical activity.
Welcome students and introduce the lesson’s purpose. Prompt them to think about why food matters for sports and play.
What Are Macronutrients?
• Macronutrients are nutrients we need in large amounts:
– Carbohydrates: main energy source (bread, pasta, fruits)
– Protein: builds and repairs muscles (meat, beans, yogurt)
– Fats: stores energy and protects organs (avocado, nuts, oils)
Define macronutrients with visual icons. Ask students for examples of foods high in each macronutrient.
Understanding Calories
• A calorie measures how much energy food gives us.
• Foods with more calories provide more fuel for our bodies.
• Example: 1 slice of pizza ≈ 285 calories, 1 banana ≈ 105 calories.
Explain calories as units of energy. Use a simple graphic showing a calorie meter filling up.
How Nutrition Fuels Exercise
• Every activity burns calories:
– 10 minutes jogging ≈ 100 calories
– 15 minutes jumping jacks ≈ 120 calories
• If you eat 200 calories, you could:
– Jog for 20 minutes or
– Do 15 minutes of jumping jacks
Show an exercise chart with calorie burn rates. Model comparing a food’s calories to exercise minutes.
Recap & Questions
• Macronutrients (carbs, protein, fats) give us energy and build our bodies.
• Calories measure that energy.
• Matching calories eaten to calories burned helps us stay balanced.
What questions do you have?
Summarize key points and invite student questions before moving to the worksheet activity.
Worksheet
My Performance Plate
Part 1: Nutrition Facts Analysis
Choose two foods and record their nutrition facts from the label.
-
Food: ____________________________
Calories: _______________________
Protein (g): _____________________
Carbs (g): _______________________
Fats (g): ________________________ -
Food: ____________________________
Calories: _______________________
Protein (g): _____________________
Carbs (g): _______________________
Fats (g): ________________________
Part 2: Comparison Questions
-
Which food has the most calories? Explain why you think so.
-
If you burn calories at a rate of 100 calories per 10 minutes of jogging, how many minutes could you jog using the calories from your highest-calorie food?
Part 3: Design Your Exercise Routine
Using the calories from your highest-calorie food, plan a 15-minute exercise routine that would burn a similar amount of energy. List your exercises and estimated minutes below:
- Exercise 1: ________________________ Minutes: __
- Exercise 2: ________________________ Minutes: __
- Exercise 3: ________________________ Minutes: __
Total Calories Burned: ________________ calories
Part 4: Reflection
How did matching your food choices with an exercise routine help you understand energy balance?
Answer Key
Nutrition-Exercise Match Answer Key
This answer key provides step-by-step guidance and sample responses to help teachers score student work and model the expected reasoning.
Part 1: Nutrition Facts Recording
Scoring Criteria: 1 point per correct value (calories, protein, carbs, fats).
Steps for Students:
- Identify food on the label.
- Record Calories, Protein (g), Carbs (g), and Fats (g).
Sample Answers
| Food | Calories | Protein (g) | Carbs (g) | Fats (g) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple | 95 | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| Granola Bar | 190 | 4 | 27 | 7 |
Part 2: Comparison Questions
Question 1: Which food has the most calories? Explain.
- Sample Answer: “The Granola Bar has the most calories (190) compared to the Apple (95).”
- Reasoning: 190 > 95.
Question 2: If jogging burns 100 calories in 10 minutes, how many minutes could you jog using the calories from your highest-calorie food?
Step-by-Step Calculation:
- Find burn rate per minute: 100 cal ÷ 10 min = 10 cal/min.
- Divide total calories by rate: 190 cal ÷ 10 cal/min = 19 minutes.
Sample Answer: “190 calories ÷ 10 cal/min = 19 minutes of jogging.”
Part 3: Design Your 15-Minute Exercise Routine
Scoring Criteria:
• Correct use of burn rates.
• Total exercise time = 15 minutes.
• Total calories burned ≈ food calories (±10–20).
Given Burn Rates (from slides):
- Jogging: 100 cal per 10 min (10 cal/min)
- Jumping jacks: 120 cal per 15 min (8 cal/min)
- Burpees: 120 cal per 10 min (12 cal/min)
Step-by-Step Plan:
- Choose 2–3 exercises.
- Assign minutes (sum = 15).
- Compute calories: minutes × cal/min for each.
- Sum calories to check against target.
Example Routine (Target = 190 cal):
- Jogging: 5 min × 10 cal/min = 50 cal
- Burpees: 7 min × 12 cal/min = 84 cal
- Jumping jacks: 3 min × 8 cal/min = 24 cal
- Total time: 5 + 7 + 3 = 15 min
- Total burned: 50 + 84 + 24 = 158 cal
Note: This routine is ~30 cal under. Students should adjust one exercise by +3 min of burpees (3 × 12 = +36 cal) to reach 194 cal.
Alternate Example (Exact Match):
For a 120-calorie food (e.g., banana), doing 15 min of jumping jacks (15 × 8 = 120 cal) meets the goal exactly.
Teacher Tip: Accept any combination where total calories burned is within approximately ±10–20 calories of the food’s calories, and the exercise times add to 15 minutes.
Part 4: Reflection
Key Ideas to Look For:
- Recognition that food calories = energy fuel.
- Understanding that exercise “uses up” those calories.
- Insight into energy balance (intake vs. expenditure).
Sample Student Response:
“Planning exercises to match my snack calories showed me how the energy I eat becomes energy I use. Now I see that if I eat more, I must move more to stay balanced.”
Overall Scoring Guide:
- Part 1: up to 8 points (4 values × 2 foods).
- Part 2: 4 points (2 points per question).
- Part 3: 6 points (logic, math, time totals).
- Part 4: 2 points (reflection depth).
Total = 20 points.
Use this key to verify student calculations, reasoning steps, and understanding of energy balance.