LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Fast food frolics

Students will research nutritional guides from local fast food restaurants. Based on this research, students will compare menus for nutritional values and create healthy and unhealthy meal advertisement posters.

A lesson plan for grade 3 English Language Arts and Mathematics

By Lisa Pastor

Learn more

Related pages

  • Food choice in our everyday lives: Focuses on everyday foods and how these foods relate to the food pyramid. Students will recognize food vocabulary in the target language (Spanish) and will make healthy food choices by creating thinking maps, a school menu in the target language, and exploring food choices from around the world.
  • La comida y la salud: Focuses on food and health using the food pyramid in Spanish. Students consider food choices and share food likes and dislikes. This lesson should be used after introcing food vocabulary and me gusta.
  • Nutrition and the media: Cereal box consumerism: This lesson will offer your students the opportunity to explore nutrition and how the media impacts our consumer decisions. Students will design a cereal box and read about how the use of color, slogans, and prizes impacts buyers. This lesson plan is easily adapted for exceptional children and can be expanded and/or adapted to suit your students' needs.

Related topics

Help

Please read our disclaimer for lesson plans.

Legal

This page copyright ©2008. Terms of use

Learning outcomes

Students will analyze nutritional data from fast food restaurant menus, using the background information already presented concerning healthy foods and the food pyramid to create healthy/unhealthy meals.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

1 hour

Materials/resources

  • nutritional guides from local fast food restaurants
  • advertisements for fast-food restaurants
  • poster board
  • markers
  • calculators

Technology resources

Teachers may want students to create healthy meal advertisement posters using KidPix, Hyperstudio, or other presentation software instead of poster board.

Pre-activities

Students should have a basic understanding of the food pyramid and be able to perform basic addition using a calculator.

Activities

  1. Show students advertisements from fast food restaurants. Brainstorm a list of positive information about the food they find in the advertisements, for example: hot, juicy, crispy, biggie size, grilled, flame-broiled.
  2. Students will be assigned to work in a cooperative group of 3–4 students. Each group will be given one nutritional information guide from a fast food restaurant, poster board, markers, and a calculator. Have groups predict which foods and drinks at their restaurant are healthy and which are unhealthy.
  3. Groups will be instructed to analyze the nutritional data on the menus to create one healthy meal combo and one unhealthy meal combo. Then groups will create posters to advertise their healthy and unhealthy meals.
  4. Each poster will include illustrations and labels of the food items. Also, the calculated nutritional information will be noted on the poster (total calories and total fat, for example). Each poster will also include a name for their healthy/unhealthy combo and a slogan to help sell their combo to customers.
  5. Groups will share completed posters.
  6. Posters can be taken to the fast food restaurants and displayed.

Assessment

The teacher will analyze each group’s completed poster for understanding of the calculation of nutritional content information.

Supplemental information

Some fast food restaurants that donated nutritional guides include McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut.

Comments

This lesson was developed during the nutrition unit in the third grade inclusion class. Instead of planning healthy meals for families at home, we decided to use fast food restaurant menus as an inspiration. It was very motivating for our students in that they could relate to the experience of eating in a fast food restaurant and that they could work in cooperative groups. This allowed each student to demonstrate his or her strength whether it be math, art, or written expression.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

English Language Arts (2004)

Grade 3

  • Goal 2: The learner will apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.
    • Objective 2.02: Interact with the text before, during, and after reading, listening, or viewing by:
      • setting a purpose.
      • previewing the text.
      • making predictions.
      • asking questions.
      • locating information for specific purposes.
      • making connections.
      • using story structure and text organization to comprehend.
  • Goal 4: The learner will apply strategies and skills to create oral, written, and visual texts.
    • Objective 4.02: Use oral and written language to:
      • present information in a sequenced, logical manner.
      • discuss.
      • sustain conversation on a topic.
      • share information and ideas.
      • recount or narrate.
      • answer open-ended questions.
      • report information on a topic.
      • explain own learning.

Mathematics (2004)

Grade 3

  • Goal 4: Data Analysis and Probability - The learner will understand and use data and simple probability concepts.
    • Objective 4.01: Collect, organize, analyze, and display data (including circle graphs and tables) to solve problems.

Healthful Living Education (2006)

Grade 3

  • Goal 4: The learner will apply knowledge and behavior self management skills to areas of nutrition and physical activity for healthy growth, development, and maintenance.
    • Objective 4.01: Compare and contrast the health effects of nutritious and non-nutritious beverages.
    • Objective 4.02: Explain and analyze the nutrient and caloric information found on a Nutrition Facts label.
    • Objective 4.03: Identify foods low in sugar and high in calcium and describe the health benefits of each.
    • Objective 4.04: Demonstrate the ability to select a nutritious breakfast and describe the importance of eating breakfast daily.
    • Objective 4.05: Differentiate between a portion and a serving and explain how to plan meals and snacks using appropriate portion sizes.