When teaching about MyPlate and the importance of eating a variety of foods, I always included superfoods as “stand out” foods in each food group because they were extremely nutritious, offering a variety of health benefits. The Star Superfoods is a way to introduce these foods to your students and includes a variety of interactive activities that will keep your students engaged!

Set

• Provide each student with a whiteboard and dry erase marker. Ask them to answer the following prompts:
  • What are superfoods?
  • What makes them super?
  • Why should we consume them?
• When they are finished, ask them to turn to their shoulder neighbor and “THINK-PAIR-SHARE” their responses. How did they compare?
• To give them more information on the answers to the prompts, show them this short video clip from YouTube titled, “What is a Superfood?“.
• Ask students how their initial answers compared to the video’s answers? Were you close or way off base?
• In order to learn more about specific superfoods, they will complete the Star Superfood Activity with a randomly assigned superfood. Either cut apart the list of superfoods and place them in a container for random selection or create a “Wheel of Names Generator” using the foods you wish students to research. While this option may not be as random, you could create a sign up for the superfoods by having students select numbers or letters and then calling them up in chronological or alphabetical order to sign up for a food they would like to research.
• Be sure to go over the guide sheet for the assignment and have copies of the template(s) available for students to work with. Be sure to remind them to use credible, reliable web-resources in their research.

Materials

• iPads or Laptops
• Projector & Screen
• White Boards & Dry Erase Markers
• Star Template(s)
• Colored Markers, Pencils or Crayons
• Lab Supplies (optional)
• Blender (affiliate link)

Activities

• After students have completed their Star Superfood template, have them share by setting up a gallery walk. Give students some prompts to complete as they circulate through the “stars” to be sure they are really looking at each superfood.
• To get students thinking about how they can apply this to their own meal plans, have them create a menu for one day around MyPlate and superfoods. They must include one superfood in each meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and at least one snack. They must choose from the superfoods displayed in the gallery walk. Additionally, they must look up the cost of the superfoods they include to see what their overall cost would be.
• After meal plans are created, it would be fun to introduce them to some superfoods by either conducting a taste test of superfoods available in your area or by completing a superfood lab such as a superfood smoothie.

Attachments

• Superfood List (PDF)
• Star Templates (PDF)
• Star Superfood Activity (PDF)
• Gallery Walk Prompts (PDF)
• Superfood Meal Plan (PDF)
• Superfood Smoothie (PDF)