Attachment T-1 Grade 8 Lesson Plan

Attachment T-1: Grade 8 Lesson Plan

United States Department of Agriculture

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor,
and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a
valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is
0584-0524. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average
223 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing
data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the
collection of information.

11

8TH GRADE | LESSON PLAN 

The Truth About Sodium
Lesson Overview
In this lesson students will
explore how to choose healthy
meal and snack options, and
how sodium affects the human
body. Engaging activities weave
together two informational text
articles; a video illustrating
how eating sodium affects the
body; an interactive application
exploring the sodium content
of snack food; and a project on
students’ eating habits.

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

• SuperTracker:

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

• SuperTracker Reflection
Handout (p. 5)

• Snack Comparison Handout
(p. 6)

Lesson Structure
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.

Subject Connections
Science, English Language Arts

Key Vocabulary
Added sugars, nomadic,
refined grains, saturated fats,
sodium, preserve

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

• Choose healthier snack
options every day.

• Decrease overall sodium
intake by identifying foods
with large amounts of sodium
and then finding alternatives.

Learning Objectives

Na

2
8
1

Sodium
22.98976928

sodium intake may affect their
bodies in the long term.

• Explain how to use MyPlate as
a guide to choosing healthier
snack options.

• Identify dietary changes that
could help reduce sodium intake
including cooking at home
more often, consuming fewer
commercially prepared foods,
and evaluating food labels.

Enduring Understandings
• Evaluating foods and labels

before you eat can help you
make better choices.

• As sodium intake increases so
does risk of developing high
blood pressure.

• You can reduce sodium intake
by cooking at home more
often, consuming fewer
commercially prepared foods,
and evaluating food labels.

• Choosing healthier snacks
can have a big impact on
the healthfulness of middle
school diets.

Essential Questions

Students will be able to:
• Identify high sodium and low
sodium snack options.

• Why do I snack the way I do?
• How does healthy snacking

• Compare different snacks and

• How can I make decisions that

make a recommendation based
on the amount of sodium.

• Identify ways in which high

affect my life?
keep me healthy?

• Why does what we eat matter
in the long run?
1

8TH GRADE | LESSON PLAN 

Warm Up (10 minutes)
THINK-PAIR-SHARE: With a partner, discuss: What kind of snacks do you usually eat? How do you
choose when and what to snack on? Invite students to share what they discussed with the entire class.
As students share their responses, jot down their answers on the board.

Choosing Healthy Snacks (45 minutes)
1. READ: “Choosing Healthy Snacks” informational text article.
(30 minutes)
Answer reading comprehension questions and discuss as a class.

2. EXPLORE: “Shake Off the Salt” Interactive Application
(15 minutes)
Students can explore the interactive as a group or individually.
Either set up students individually on the interactive or put the
interactive up on a projector and complete the activity together
as a class.
For this second option, you can facilitate participation in several ways:

• Have the whole class vote at each snack selection point by having
them raise their hands or put up cards (i.e. green for the snack on
the left, or blue for the one on the right).

• Structure the choice at each selection point as a "human barometer"
activity. Have students walk to the side of the room representing
the snack they would choose, have a few volunteers explain their
reasoning, and pick the snack that has the most votes.

fpo
Screen shot of
“Video” goes here

• Create a more competitive game by diving the class into two
groups and having each group go through the interactive.
Whichever group chooses the least amount of sodium wins. You
can even create a split-screen with the interactive in two different
browser windows and alternate between the two, so that the
groups are taking turns between choices, rather than waiting for
the whole interactive to be completed before getting to participate.

Introduction to Sodium (45 minutes)
1. WATCH: “Name of Video To Come” video (90 seconds).
(15 minutes)
Discuss as a class: What did the video show you about the impact of
sodium on your health? Why do you think young people don’t think about
the long-term effects of the foods they eat? Why is it important to think
about the long-term effects?

fpo
Screen shot of
“Shake Off the Salt”
Interactive Application

2

8TH GRADE | LESSON PLAN 

1. INVESTIGATE: SuperTracker Activity (30 minutes)
• Students will use the USDA’s SuperTracker groups tool to
explore their eating habits, deepen their understanding of
sodium, and see how much sodium they regularly consume.
Refer to the SuperTracker Groups & Challenges User
Guide (https://www.supertracker.usda.gov/Documents/
SuperTracker%20Groups%20And%20Challenges%20User%20
Guide.pdf) for instructions on setting up a group challenge.

• After setting up your account and creating your private group,
invite students to join. Students can be invited via email or by
sharing the access code. Assign students to enter all the foods
they eat for a 2-day period. At the end of the challenge, you
can print the following reports: Food Groups, Calories, and
Nutrients (which allows you to see how much sodium was
consumed); and Meal Summary (which allows you to look at
specific meals like snacks).

• At the end of the week, instruct students to fill out the
SuperTracker Reflection Handout (p.5) to reflect on what
kinds of meals and snacks they ate, and how much sodium
they consumed. Afterwards, discuss their answers as a class.

Sodium and Your Health (45 minutes)
1. READ: “Sodium and Your Health” informational text article.
(30 minutes)
Answer reading comprehension questions and discuss as a class.

2. INVESTIGATE: Sodium Around Us (15 minutes)
Students will pick two snacks readily available to them either
in school, in the cafeteria or in vending machines, or at
nearby convenience stores. Students will compare the two
food items, with the goal of identifying which one they think
is a better snack choice. Students will enter the food items
into Food-A-Pedia to see the complete nutrition information
and use the Snack Comparison Handout (p. 6) to compare. As
a class, students can share their comparisons and make a list
of the best snack options available to them.

Wrap Up (10 minutes)
REFLECT: Ask students to reflect on these questions individually, and then discuss as a group:
How has what you’ve learned about healthy snacking affected your snack choices? If you were to share
one message from these activities with a friend, what would it be? Discuss as a class and record
student responses on whiteboard or chart paper.
3

8TH GRADE | LESSON PLAN 

PROJECT: Planning Healthy Snacks
Students will develop a healthy snack plan for their week.
Students will identify morning and afternoon snacks for a full
7-day week and create a grocery list for all the snack ingredients.
How can they choose creative and varied options? Students will then
practice writing a persuasive letter to their parents/guardians
asking them to help them access the healthy snacks on their plan.

Persuasive Writing: Healthier Snack Options
Students will create a persuasive writing piece convincing their
school to carry healthier snacks. Students will identify the
decision-makers with power over cafeteria and vending machine
offerings, and decide which arguments are most convincing. The
persuasive writing piece can take the form of a newspaper oped, letter to a school administrator, or blog post.

Food and Nutrition Service • FNS-XXX • Month 2017 • USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. • http://teamnutrition.usda.gov

4

8TH GRADE | LESSON PLAN 

SuperTracker Reflections
Follow your teacher's instructions to sign up for SuperTracker and join your class’s group, either
by email or with an access code. Enter all the foods you eat for 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. When the challenge period is over, run the Food Groups, Calories, and
Nutrients, and Meal Summary reports so you can see how much sodium you consumed and what
kinds of snacks you ate. Click the “Run Report” button on your SuperTracker group page. Then pick
the specific report you want to see. See page 9 -11 of the SuperTracker Groups and Challenges User
Guide for more help (https://www.supertracker.usda.gov/Documents/SuperTracker%20Groups%20
And%20Challenges%20User%20Guide.pdf). Using the reports, answer the questions below.

1. After reading the Food Groups, Calories, and Nutrients, and Meal Summary reports,
what did you learn about your eating pattern?

2. Take a look at the Food Groups, Calories, and Nutrients report. What was your daily sodium
intake in milligrams (mg) each day? Did you exceed the daily recommended limit of 2300mg?
Day 1:

mg

Day 2:

mg

3. Does anything about your sodium intake surprise you?

4. Using the Food Groups, Calories, and Nutrients report, List the top 5 sources of sodium in your
diet from the 2-day SuperTracker Challenge, alongside the miligrams of sodium in each of the
foods.
1.

mg

2.

mg

3.

mg

4.

mg

5.

mg

5. What are 5 foods that you could choose instead of high sodium foods?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

5

8TH GRADE | LESSON PLAN 

Snack Comparison Handout
Pick two snacks readily available in school, in the cafeteria or in vending machines, or at nearby
convenience stores. Enter the snacks into Food-A-Pedia to see the complete nutrition information.
Record the information in the handout below and decide which snack is the healthier option.

Snack 1:

Snack 2:

Sodium in milligrams (mg):

Sodium in milligrams (mg):

Added Sugar
Remember, calories
from added sugars
should not exceed
10% of your total
daily calories.

Added sugar in grams (g):

Added sugar in grams (g):

Saturated Fat
Remember, calories
from saturated fats
should not exceed
10% of your total
daily calories.

Saturated fat in grams (g):

Saturated Fat in grams (g):

Other nutrients
Does your snack have
more than 20% DV of
important nutrients like
Vitamin A, Vitamin C,
fiber, or B vitamins?

Percent daily value (%DV) of nutrients:

Percent daily value (%DV) of nutrients:

Sodium
Remember, your daily
limit is 2300mg.

What snack is the best option and why?
Think of which one is lowest in sodium, added sugars, saturated fats and has more beneficial
nutrients. Write down your snack choice and 3 “selling points” if you had to pitch this snack to
the rest of your class.

6