High School
High school students will learn how to practice a healthy lifestyle through the foods they eat and their physical activity.
If you’d like to see mathematics and health sciences come to life for your students, try FoodMASTER! This numeracy program is designed to use measurements and mathematics to assess health and make healthy decisions. Downloads are FREE thanks to SEPA sponsorship!
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About FoodMASTER Numeracy Program
Welcome to the FoodMASTER Numeracy Program for high schoolers, Food and YOU! The curriculum contained in this packet was developed by FoodMASTER with funding from the National Institutes of Health: Science Education Partnership Award (NIH SEPA) to present high school grade students with ten basic topics in foods. Each topic area includes lessons to take your students on an exciting and innovative exploration of food and mathematics. These engaging lessons will lead your students to develop new skills, causing them to think about learning in a way that is fun and exciting for everyone involved.
Food and YOU! Numeracy Matters is a grade 9-12 workbook focusing on nutritional assessment and food composition calculations for high school students, providing students with a story about high schoolers, Savannah and James. Both characters have common concerns and questions about their nutrition and health, and story information guides students in using mathematical equations to learn more about the characters’ concerns and exploration around topics having to do with health, food and nutrition. Under the direction of a teacher, students can complete the activities in the classroom to ensure accuracy and skill in using mathematical equations. Subsequently, students should be able to use mathematical equations to calculate their own numbers in private, later using the information to discuss their personal health with their parents and healthcare providers. The workbook aims to assist students in becoming acquainted with their own numbers in order to become mathematically-literate consumers of healthcare information.
Mathematic & Science Curriculum Topics
Height, Weight, & Growth Charts
Students will start to evaluate some aspects of shape and size by determining their body height and weight, and make comparisons by percentiles using a growth chart.
Calculating Body Mass Index
Students will learn about other factors that determine a healthy body weight, including body composition; calculate their body mass index (BMI); and use a BMI Growth Chart to see if they are growing as expected or if they are at a higher risk for future health concerns.
Mathematic & Science Curriculum Topics
Height, Weight, & Growth Charts
Students will start to evaluate some aspects of shape and size by determining their body height and weight, and make comparisons by percentiles using a growth chart.
Calculating Body Mass Index
Students will learn about other factors that determine a healthy body weight, including body composition; calculate their body mass index (BMI); and use a BMI Growth Chart to see if they are growing as expected or if they are at a higher risk for future health concerns.
Calculating Calories
Students will learn how to estimate calorie intake needed to provide energy for daily activities and to maintain a healthy body weight by measuring their resting metabolic rate, or RMR, and calculating their total energy expenditure (TEE), or the number of calories our bodies burn everyday doing physical activities.
Expending Energy
Students will learn the importance of physical activity for strength and bodily functions, and how to measure their energy expenditure using the Metabolic Equivalent of a Task (MET) for a given activity.
Energy-Yielding Nutrients
Students will learn about the macronutrients fat, protein, and carbohydrates that give us energy through caloric value, and calculate the total number of calories in some their favorite foods.
Vitamins and Minerals
Students will learn about vitamins and minerals; the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) needed for healthy body functions based on age and gender; and how to get these micronutrients through the foods they eat.
Estimating Fluid Needs
Students will learn about their body’s fluid needs; how the body gains and losses fluids; and how to calculate their fluid needs based on body weight.
Empty Calories
Students will learn about the six essential nutrients needed to survive and choosing foods that are nutrient-dense rather than just calorie-dense.
The FoodMASTER curriculum is free for public, private and home school teachers to download and use!
Download nowWhat does it take to be a FoodMASTER?
Are you enthusiastic enough to be a FoodMASTER? The hands-on FoodMASTER activities in this curriculum do take the commitment of a special teacher who is willing to take the extra time to bring food and supplies into the classroom. It also requires that teachers manage their classrooms in a more open fashion that they may not be accustomed to.
However, if you desire to see science come to life for your students, you will find this method very enjoyable, rewarding and satisfying. Previous work with the FoodMASTER method indicated that 85% of the students repeated one or more of the activities at home! You will be filled with satisfaction when you see students applying real-life science in the classroom and as you hear students share their stories of food lab cooking at home.