Title – Do Something about… Eating Healthy

Day 8: Action Plan

By – Do Something, Inc. / www.dosomething.org

Primary Subject – Health / Physical Education

Secondary Subjects – Other

Grade Level – 9-12

Do Something about…

Eating Healthy

10-Day Unit

The following lesson is the eighth lesson of a 10-day

Eating Healthy Unit from Do Something, Inc.

Other lessons in this unit are as follows:

Day 1: Green Scene Students learn the benefits of green vegetables and the number of recommended servings

Day 2: Vital Vitamins Students learn about different types of vitamins and how they function in the body

Day 3: Nutritious Choices Students examine their eating habits and learn about a balanced diet

Day 4: International Food Day Students learn the differences in people’s diets from around the world

Day 5: Super-size Me Students learn about America’s growing obesity and its relationship to portion size

Day 6: Got Greens? Students learn ways foods are marketed towards youth in order to start their own green campaign

Day 7: Getting the Skinny on Obesity Students learn about the New Food Pyramid and how to evaluate their Body Mass Index

Day 8: Action Plan (See the lesson below) Students evaluate their own activity levels and plan ways to add more movement into their lives

Day 9: Fitting in Fitness Students evaluate how they spend their time and how to include physical activity into their day

Day 10: Green Day Students plant a garden and/or fix up a community space for physical activity

More student resources for this cause are at:


www.dosomething.org/causes/healthy_eating

Day 8: Action Plan

Goal:

Students will evaluate their own activity levels and think of way to bring more movement into their everyday life.

Steps:

1. 
   Warm-up:
   
   If possible, work with the physical education teacher and administer a fitness test. Otherwise, have students do jumping jacks and take their pulse.
2. Use the following chart to measure resting and active pulse rates:
   

   http://www.webmd.com/hw/heart_disease/hw233473.asp

   
   Do students’ pulse rates fall into normal range? How does pulse rate speak to a person’s health and level of fitness?

3. Afterwards, ask students to rate their daily activity level using these categories: Sedentary, Moderate Activity, Active, or Very Active.
4. Ask students to define what a sedentary lifestyle means. What might moderate activity look like?
5. Go to any of the following websites to calculate the amount of calories burned during various activities:

• http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc

• http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist.htm

Explain to students that all of these websites take into account weight and the amount of time for a particular activity.

6. 
   Reflect:
   
   In groups, have students brainstorm 10 ways to increase their activity level. These might be actual exercises or small ways they can change their routines, like not using the remote to turn a channel or walking up stairs instead of taking the elevator.

E-Mail

Do Something, Inc.

!