What's the Story? Lesson 1

This lesson is the first of five lessons to be conducted over a three-week period and will take the full class period. Begin this lesson at the start of week 1.

Today, you will:

• View an animation with students that shows the growing epidemic of obesity.
• Introduce the process of reading graphs.
• Review three key professions in health research with your students, discussing the roles each researcher plays.

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Preparation

• Set up computer with projector to show the animation What's the Story? U.S. Obesity Trends Map and the interactive file, What's the Story? Portion Distortion.
• Prepare lesson on introducing the interactive timeline, What's the Story? Interactive Timeline.
• Review National Science Standards met by What's the Story? and the assessment activities at the end of this lesson to decide what assessment strategies you will use in the What's the Story exploration.

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Activities

Large Class Activity

Share the animation, What's the Story? U.S. Obesity Trends Map with the class. Lead the class in a discussion of what factors caused the epidemic in America, including differences in diet and movement.

Work through the interactive file, What's the Story? Portion Distortion with the class. Discuss how portion size affects how we eat.

Introduce the What's the Story? Interactive Timeline. In groups, students will have the chance to explore this tool in depth. If it is the first time your students have used a graph to understand data, you will need to review the process of reading a graph. Be sure to show them the title, the x and y axis, and how to read and interpret data from a line graph.

Explain that over the next two weeks the students will research the trends of eating more and moving less in America using articles and surveys they conduct themselves. Today, they will be reviewing the research of others.

Introduce Professions

Review with your students three key professions in nutrition and movement research. Consider giving the students the names of each profession, and ask their input about what role they play.

• Nutritionists are most interested in diet. They look at what the research and interactives say about what Americans eat and how their eating patterns have changed over the years. What kinds of things do nutritionists probably look at regarding the obesity epidemic?
  
• Physiologists are most interested in activity. They investigate the American lifestyle and activities and how they have changed over time? What kinds of things do physiologists probably look at regarding the role of activity in the obesity epidemic?
  
• Anthropologists investigate environment and how that affects America's health. How do you think our environment affects our health?