Attachment S-1 Grade 7 Lesson Plan

Attachment S-1: Grade 7 Lesson Plan

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7TH GRADE | LESSON PLAN 

What Are You Really Drinking?
Lesson Overview

Lesson Structure

In this lesson, students will
explore how to create healthy
eating patterns by adding
nutrient-dense foods, limiting
added sugar from beverages,
and drinking more water.
Engaging activities weave
together two informational
text articles, an engaging video
about what’s really in students’
beverages, an interactive
application tracking beverages
consumed throughout the day,
and a research project creating
a school-wide campaign
to promote the benefits of
drinking water.

Each lesson is created like a
“menu,” allowing you to pick
and choose from a variety of
learning activities designed
to engage all children and all
learning styles. Lessons also
include video, interactive
tools, and challenges
developed specifically to
promote engagement and
exploration.

TIME REQUIRED:

Lesson activities are grouped
into three sessions, each
approximately 45 minutes long,
with a short warm up and wrap
up.

SUPPLIES:

• Video projector
• computers with internet
access,

• Thirsty For Facts Interactive
Handout (p.4),

• SuperTracker: https://www.
supertracker.usda.gov/

• SuperTracker Reflection
Handout (p.5),

• Beverage Choices Matter
Handout (p. 6),

• sample food and beverage
marketing items (i.e. fruit
juice packaging, magazine
ads, energy drink bottles).

Subject Connections
English Language Arts

Key Vocabulary
Added sugar, calorie balance,
consume, daily values, dilute,
eating pattern, excessive,
isolation, limit, nutrientdense, percent daily value,
portion size, recommend

Transfer Objective
Students will be able to
independently use their
learning from these activities to:

• Increasingly choose water
or fat-free/low fat milk over
sugar-sweetened beverages.

Learning Objectives
Students will be able to:
• Identify the maximum
amount of added sugar that
could fit within their daily

calorie needs.

• Evaluate messages and marketing
graphics on beverage labels.

• Identify added sugars on an
ingredient list and on the new
Nutrition Facts Label.

• Communicate the benefits of
drinking water or milk instead
of sugar-sweetened beverages.

• Compare typical middle school
food and beverage choices
with more nutrient-dense
alternatives

Enduring Understandings
• Water and low fat/fat free milk
are healthy beverages because
they have no added sugars.

• Food and beverage
manufacturers use marketing
and design to sell their product.
You can make better choices
by reading the Nutrition Facts
Label.

• Dietary patterns that are high
in added sugars and low in
nutrient-dense food choices
may lead to health problems.

Essential Questions
• How do added sugars affect
my health?

• What factors influence my
beverage choices?

• Why does what I drink matter?
1

7TH GRADE | ACTIVITIES



Warm Up (10 minutes)
THINK-PAIR-SHARE: With a partner, discuss: What are some popular
drinks amongst students in your grade? Why are some drinks more popular than
others? Invite students to share what they discussed with the entire class.
As students share their responses, jot down their answers on the board.

Beverages and Nutrient Density (45 minutes)
1. WATCH: Watch “The Red Carpet” video
Ask students to discuss the video about the ingredients in
common beverages. What did you learn about each drink? What did
the label reveal about the contents of the beverages? What does this
tell us about how drinks are labeled? What does this tell us about the
strategies beverage marketers use to influence us?

fpo
Screen shot of "The Red
Carpet" video
goes here

2. READ: “Creating Your Healthy Eating Pattern” informational
text article.
• After reading the article, have students answer the reading

comprehension questions and then discuss as a group.

Focused Study — Added Sugars (45 minutes)
1. READ: “Living in the Land of Added Sugars” informational text
article. Answer reading comprehension questions, and then discuss
as a class.

2. EXPLORE: “Thirsty for Facts” Interactive Application
• Distribute the Thirsty for Facts Interactive Handout (p. 4) to
each student. Use a projector to demonstrate how to use the
interactive tool. Use the interactive as a group or let students
explore individually on computers.

• The interactive asks students to pick 4 beverages to represent
their total beverage intake throughout the day. At the end,
students will see a conclusion screen summarizing their total
calorie and added sugars intake for the day, as well as the
amount of physical activity needed to burn off calories from
added sugars. Students will be prompted to try the interactive
again, to uncover different healthier combinations.

• After using the interactive, discuss as group: Were you able to
stay within your daily limit on added sugars? Did the calories and
added sugar content of the beverages surprise you? What did this
interactive show you about why your beverage choices matter?

2

7TH GRADE | ACTIVITIES



Analyzing Our Beverage Choices (45 minutes)
1. INVESTIGATE: Students will use the USDA’s SuperTracker
tool (supertracker.usda.gov) to explore their eating habits,
focusing on their sugar consumption.

• Have each student create a SuperTracker account and
instruct them to use the Food Tracker tool (https://www.
supertracker.usda.gov/foodtracker.aspx) for 2 days. Remind
students that they must be logged into their accounts for
their entries to be saved. Students should enter every food
item they eat and all beverages they drink. At the end of the
2-day period, students can analyze their eating pattern.

• At the end of the week, have students run the Food Groups,
Calories, and Nutrients report on the 2 days they recorded
food and beverage intake. Once they have reviewed the
report, instruct students to fill out the SuperTracker
Reflection Handout (p. 5) to reflect on their sugar
consumption. Discuss students' reflections as a group,
focusing on the final goal-setting question and students'
plans to reduce their sugar consumption.

2. PROJECT: Improving Peers’ Beverage Choices
• Distribute the Beverage Choices Matter Handout (p. 6) and
then discuss as a class. Brainstorm some of the reasons
middle school students don't choose water or low-fat milk.

• Then instruct students to use the handout to design a
persuasive campaign to make water a more popular choice
with kids their age. Students can work with a partner or in
small groups.

• The goal is to raise awareness about the benefits of
water and promote drinking more water in school. The
message can be amplified by displaying the posters in
prominent locations around school or making public service
announcements over the school announcement system.
Additionally, you can begin a social media campaign or start
a new tradition like "Milk Monday" or "Water Wednesday"
to continue this effort.

Wrap Up (10 minutes)
FINAL REFLECTION: Revisit students’ answers to the Anticipation
Guide for the first article. What did you learn from reading the articles and
doing the activities? How did this information influence your answers to these
questions? Has your opinion changed?
3

7TH GRADE | HANDOUT 1



Thirsty For Facts

fpo

Interactive Handout

Screen shot of
“Thirsty For Facts”
app goes here

Use the interactive application to learn about your favorite
beverages. Take notes on what you learn.

Beverage

Calories

Added Sugar (% DV or grams/teaspoons )

1.

% DV

grams/teaspoons

2.

% DV

grams/teaspoons

3.

% DV

grams/teaspoons

4.

% DV

grams/teaspoons

TOTAL:

Minutes of Physical
Activity

TOTAL:

How much physical activity would you need to do to burn
off the calories from added sugars in all the beverages you picked?

What changes can you make to reduce your consumption
of added sugars from beverages?

4

7TH GRADE | HANDOUT 2



SuperTracker
Reflections
Follow your teacher's instructions to sign up for SuperTracker (supertracker.usda.gov) and
join your class's group, either by email or with an access code. Enter all the foods you eat into
SuperTracker for 2 days. You may want to write down what you eat on a piece of paper and enter
it on the computer later. Make sure to save your entries. After the two days, run the Food Groups,
Calories, and Nutrients report so you can see how much added sugar you consumed. Using the
report, answer the questions below to see what you learned.

1. What did you learn about your eating pattern after using SuperTracker for 2 days?

2. Look at the Food Groups, Calories, and Nutrients report. What was your total amount of added
sugars for each day? Is it higher than the daily recommended limit?

3. What were your top three sources of added sugar?
What nutrient dense alternatives could you choose instead?

Food or Beverage
Nutritious Alternative

1.
2.
3.

5

7TH GRADE | HANDOUT 2



4. SET A GOAL:
I would like reduce the amount of sugar I consume every day to ______ grams.
To do this, I will consume more ____________________ (insert food or beverage type)



and/or consume less __________________________ (insert food or beverage type).



Draw a food/beverage you want to consume less often.

Draw a food/beverage you want to consume more often.

6

7TH GRADE | HANDOUT 3



Beverage Choices Matter

WATER

Why Choose Water?
1. List 5 unhealthy beverages your peers enjoy drinking. What alternatives could you suggest?
a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

2. What are some of the barriers to choosing water or milk that middle schoolers face?

Influence Your Peers — Water Awareness Campaign
In small groups, work together to come up with a message that can be used on posters,
social media, and over the school announcement system to encourage kids to drink more water.

1. What is your key message?

2. What is the tone of your campaign? (Is it funny? Is it serious?)

3. How will you spread the message? (Social media?
School announcements? When and where?)

4. Where do you plan to reach the most people?

7