The lesson plan aims to teach middle school students about making healthy snack choices. It includes a tasting demonstration of healthier alternatives to snacks high in fat, sugar, and calories. An activity called "SnackChat" allows students to share their favorite snacks and discuss the nutritional value. A physical activity demonstrates how long it takes to burn off just one Cheeto. Finally, students commit to trying one new healthy snack by writing it down on a note card to be displayed. The objectives are for students to learn about the nutrition of their snacks and how to improve snack choices to practice healthy eating. Key content points cover fats, sugars, calories and examples of each in common snacks.

1. Lesson Plan Template
LessonTitle Smart Snacking
DevelopedBy JessicaMills
Class Description “To eat or not to eat?”
Participants Middle School Students
Type of Learning
Activity
 Hands-onactivity Discussion Cooking/tastingdemo
Physical activity  Learningstations  Role playing(skits)
Other “SnackChat”
Tastingdemo:Part of the lessonplanwill be able totaste some healthy
alternativestosnackswithnonutritional value.
I.e.Substitutes
SWITCH FOR
FlaminghotCheetos AppleswithTajinClasicoseasoning
w/lime (0% fat)
Poptarts Low fatyogurt withdrizzledhoney
and fruit
PotatoChips Veggie chips/soybeans
SnackChat:Thiswill be an activitywhere participantswillhave one minute
to jotdowntheirfavorite snack.They will share themwiththe classand we
will discussthe nutritional valueof the topfive.
PhysicalActivity: Thisactivityrequiresall participantstostandup andrun
inplace as hard as theycan forone minute.At the endof the minute students
will learnthattheyonlywouldhave burnedoff one Cheeto!
Workshop: Towardsthe endof the lessonplan,studentswill all receive a
note card. At thistime theywill jotdownonlyone alternative totheirsnacking
that theywill make inthe comingweek.All of the note cardswill have their
signature andbe collectedandgluedtoa postboard. Thispostboard will hang
inthe classroomuntil the endof the yearto remindthemof theirvow to try
for healthiersnackchoices.
Notes

2. Learning Objectives
(state what the
participant will gain from
the session)
Participantswill learnthe nutritionalvalue of theirfrequentsnackingoptions
as well ashow to improve suchoptions.Ingainingthisknowledge studentswill
learnhowto practice healthychoicesindailysnacks.Thislessonplanwill
enlightenitsparticipantsinthe energygainthroughoutthe dayinchoosing
healthiersnacks. Repercussionsof suchprocessedfoodssuchaslethargy,poor
sleep,poorconcentration,asthma,andlastbutnotleastobesitywill be
explainedtolearners.Studentswill be learningthatthese repercussions
ultimatelycanleadthemintopoorschool andathleticperformance.
Key Content Points
(What key information
do the learners need to
know to achieve learning
objectives? Aim for
three)
Participantsshouldbe informedonthree maincomponentsof nutrition to
gaina betterlearningexperience forthislessonplan:
Fats, sugars, and calories.
These three componentswill be outlinedonthe providedhandoutsforthe
students.
Fats: Fat comes in many forms! It is great for fueling energy
but when you take in too much it can worsen your health. 
The extra fat is often stored in your tummy, your sides, your
thighs, and your arms. Too much fat is often found in snacks
such as:
 Cheese and cracker snack packs
 Pop tarts
 Doritos
 Skittles
 Cheez-it baked snacks
 Twix
…. Sound familiar?
Sugars: You scream, I scream, we all scream…for sugar!!
Sugar is not only in ice cream and cupcakes.
 Sugar is in fruit drinks, smoothies, breakfast cereals, and
even in pizza! Beware of sneaky sugars….
Try to get all your sugars in fruits such as apples, bananas, and
blueberries!
Calories: Calories are what we use to measure the energy we
burn and the food that we eat. We need to consume an average
of 2000 calories per day in order to have enough energy
throughout the day…
Too many calories can result in poorer health however. It takes
approximately 1 minute of running or power walking to burn 10
calories. How much have you ran or played today?

3. Materials Thislessonplanrequiresthe use of paperandpencilsforeachstudent,
handouts, posterboard,glue,markers, andsome taste testers. Taste testers
include avarietyof healthy alternatives.
Resources Caloriecount.about.com
Danna,Jim M.A.& Jordan,Jo. Processed Foods.Digestive Wellness
Centerhttp://www.puristat.com/standardamericandiet/processedfoods.aspx
http://eatthis.menshealth.com/content/20-most-sugar-packed-foods-america
http://fatsecret.com/Diary.aspx?pa=fjrd&rid=306805
Sole-Smith,Virginia. 10Healthy and 10 nothealthy Vending MachineSnacks.
Fitnesshttp://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/snacks/healthy/vending-
machine-snacks/
Class Flow & Set Up
(Consider the flow of the
session & room set-up.
Make note of any
additional preparation
that may be needed).