A Homeschool Co-op Lesson On Nutrition

A few years ago I was in charge of teaching an anatomy class for children ages 5-9 at our homeschool co-op. One of the topics we covered was nutrition. After searching for several months for some type of curriculum to use, I finally ended up doing some research and writing something myself. While I am not a nutrition expert, It is my hope that someone might still find something helpful here.

Drink Enough Water

Our bodies are mostly water, so drinking plenty of water is important if we want to keep our bodies healthy. Some symptoms of not drinking enough are fatigue, dry skin, headaches, and constipation. Over a long period of time, a shortage of water will cause your body functions to stop working properly. Drinking enough water will keep you healthier and may allow you to live longer.

What is enough water? You've may have heard that you should drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day, but a better rule to remember is to drink one quart for every 50 pounds of body weight. So, if you weigh 100 pounds, you need to drink two quarts, if you weigh 150 pounds, you need to drink three quarts, and so on.

You also want to make sure that the water you are drinking is good water. Most tap water should be avoided because it may contain chlorine and fluoride, toxic substances that are bad for your body. Distilled water should also be avoided because it can drain your body of necessary minerals. It is best to drink water at room temperature because ice-cold water can harm the lining of your stomach.

Can you give me some reasons why it is important to drink enough water?

Eat Lots of Fruits and Veggies

The National Cancer Institute and the Food Guide Pyramid recommend five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables per day to protect against cancer and other diseases. A serving of vegetables means 1/2 cup of cooked vegetables or 1 cup of raw salad vegetables. A serving of fruit is one medium piece, like apple or an orange.

You should eat fruits and vegetables at every meal. Make veggies the main course. Plan your meals around a "main" vegetable, instead of a meat or starch. When you fill your plate, vegetables should take up half the plate, with meat and starches filling smaller areas. And try to plan at least one vegetarian meal a week. But don't replace the meat with pasta and rice, instead use beans and whole grains.

Try something new. There are lots of different fruits and vegetables. If you try something and don't like it, move on to something different until you find a few you like. Or, try a different way of preparing the same old vegetables. If you don't like cooked peas, try them raw. If you don't like steamed zucchini, maybe you will like it grilled.

FREE FRUIT AND VEGETABLE FROM A TO Z WORKSHEET

Use the color to "please the eye and inspire the appetite". The most nutritious fruits and vegetables are the ones with the brightest and deepest colors, so paint your plate with color.

Choose fresh fruits and vegetables whenever possible. Because food looses vitamins and deteriorates in quality as it sits on store shelves, your produce will be more nutritious (and better tasting) if you grow it yourself or buy it locally. Eat vegetables that are in season. If something is not currently being harvested in your area, you know that it was either grown and shipped in from somewhere else, or it has been in storage. Either way, it isn't going to be fresh.

If you can't get something fresh, then buy frozen. Food that has been harvested and frozen quickly actually has more vitamins than most of the foods you will find in the produce section of the grocery store.

What are some things to remember that will help you to start eating more fruits and vegetables?

FREE FRUIT AND VEGETABLE FROM A TO Z WORKSHEET (for younger children)

Eat Natural

Eat as few over-processed and over-cooked foods as possible. Once food is cut or processed, it begins to lose its nutritional value. The heat of cooking also depletes vitamins, damages proteins and fats, and destroys enzymes. The closer your foods are to their whole, natural state, the more vitamins, minerals, and fiber they will have, and the better they will be for you.

Eat as many raw foods as possible. Most raw foods contain enzymes which help us to digest our foods. Once enzymes are exposed to heat, they are no longer able to do what they were designed to do. When the natural enzymes in food are destroyed, our body must make its own enzymes to process the food. Eating enzyme-dead foods places an extra burden on your pancreas and other organs, causing them to wear out faster. Lack of digestive enzymes can also be a factor in food allergies. Symptoms of digestive enzymes depletion are bloating, belching, gas, bowel disorders, abdominal cramping, heartburn and food allergies. If you do cook your food, the best way is to lightly steam, stew, or use a slow cooker.

Can you give me some examples of whole, unprocessed foods?

Know What's In Your Food

Another problem with processed foods is that they don't taste or look as good as whole foods. Your body will have a very hard time digesting over-processed and over-cooked foods because of all the sugar, salt, fat, and chemicals which are added to them to improve their quality. These kinds of foods are usually found in boxes, bags, cans, or jars.

The worst offenders are those foods which have been refined (such as white flour and white rice), pasteurized (things that have been flash-heated to high temperatures to kill bacteria), homogenized (a process which is used to keep milk and other foods from separating), or preserved (chemicals are added to keep the food from going bad or to improve the texture or taste). Make sure to read the labels of any canned foods that you do purchase. Even things like tomato sauce, beef broth, or vegetable soup may have added sugar or other unhealthy ingredients. Also, if you don't recognize what is in the food you're eating, it probably isn't very good for you.

What are some over-processed foods that you should avoid?

A Homeschool Co-op Lesson On Muscles

A few years ago I was in charge of teaching an anatomy class for children ages 5-9 at our homeschool co-op. One of the topics we covered was muscles. Since most of the children in the class are boys, I thought this was a good opportunity to keep things active and burn off some energy while we went over our lesson. Below is the lesson written out as I gave it.

Did everyone bring their muscles today? Let me see them! Good job! Did you know that you have over 640 muscles in your bodies? They help you run, jump, and play, but they also do things like pump blood throughout your body and help you digest your food. You control some of your muscles, while others - like your heart - do their jobs all by themselves. Try telling your stomach to digest your food. Can you do that? No, it just does it on its own, right? Muscles are made up of cells called muscle fibers. These cells form a type of elastic tissue- sort of like a rubber band. Thousands of small fibers make up each muscle and, when you exercise, these muscle fibers grow. So even though everyone has the same amount of muscles, some people will have bigger muscles. Although exercise helps your muscles to become bigger and stronger, too much exercize can cause your muscles to get tired and start to slow down. Sometimes overworked muscles can suddenly tighten up and become painful. This is called a cramp. When your muscles get tired, they need time to rest so they can get more oxygen and food,and can get rid of wastes.

Let's Experiment! Hold your right arm straight out in front of you. Count how many times you can open and close your fist in thirty seconds. Now rest for fifteen seconds. Try it again. Open and close your fist as many times as you can in thirty seconds. How many times were you able to do it each time? The second number should be smaller because your muscles were tired out. Now, hold your arms straight up over your head. I want you to keep them there while I continue the lesson. Keep them there as long as you can, and we'll see who can keep them up the longest.

Maybe you've heard a story from the Bible where Moses was told to do what you are doing right now. The Israelites were fighting an important battle and God told Moses to stand on a hill above the battle and hold his hands up like this. As long as his hands stayed up, the Israelites would be winning. But if his hands came down, the enemy would start to win. Eventually Moses' muscles got tired and a couple of his friends had to use their muscles to help him. If you haven't ever heard that story, ask your mom or dad to read it to you tonight.

Three Types of Muscles

You have three different types of muscles in your body. Can anyone name them for me? Raise you hand if you know . . . Just kidding! There are three types of muscles in our body: smooth muscles, cardiac muscles, and skeletal muscles.

Smooth Muscles Smooth muscles usually form smooth layers, with one layer of muscle behind the other. Smooth muscles are sometimes called involuntary muscles because you can't control them. Your brain and body tell these muscles what to do without you even thinking about it. Smooth muscles are at work all over your body. In your stomach and intestines, they contract and relax to digest food and move it through the body. In your bladder, they allow you to hold in urine until you can get to the bathroom and they help you to push it out. Smooth muscles are also at work in your eyes, keeping them focused and causing you to blink.

Let's Experiment! OK, you're going to have to put your hands down now. Hold them in front of your face and hold the tips of your pointer fingers out so they are close but not touching. Try to keep your fingers perfectly still without moving them at all. Now, stare at your fingers and try not to blink. What happens? Does it look like your fingers are bouncing around? That is because the involuntary muscles in your eyes are trying to blink. Eye muscles are the busiest muscles in the body. Scientists estimate they may move more than 100,000 times a day!

Cardiac Muscle The kind of muscle that makes up your heart is called cardiac muscle. The thick muscles of the heart contract to pump blood out and then relax to let blood back in after it has circulated through the body. Just like smooth muscle, cardiac muscle works all by itself. You don't have to tell your heart to beat. It works even when you aren't thinking about it.

Skeletal Muscle Skeletal Muscles are the kind of muscle you think of when we say "muscle" - the ones that you all showed me when I asked you earlier. Skeletal muscles are voluntary muscles, which means you can control what they do. The skeletal muscles work with your bones to allow you to move. Most skeletal muscles are attached to one end of a bone. They stretch all the way across a joint (the place where two bones meet) and then attach again to another bone. Skeletal muscles are held to the bones by tendons. Tendons are cords made of tough tissue that connect bones and muscles. Did you know that the muscles that move our fingers are not in our fingers? Our fingers are very strong and yet are able to move around quickly and easily because of tendons which connect parts of our fingers to big muscles in our forearms. Watch the bottom of your wrist as you open and close your hand. Can you see the tendons and muscles moving in your arm? Muscles work by relaxing and contracting. When they contract, muscles pull on bones or tendons where they are attached. It is the pulling motion that allows you to move and do the function that you want. When they relax, muscles let you rest. Muscles ALWAYS pull. They NEVER push. Muscles often work in pairs so that they can pull in opposite directions.

Let's Experiment! Look at this MODEL OF A FINGER that I built. It shows how the tendons going to our fingers allow them to open and close. See how it curls like a real finger when I pull on this string? Doctors call this "flexion". Notice that when I release the string, the finger straightens part way because of gravity, but not all the way. To get it to straighten all the way, which is called "extension", I need to pull on another string. This works like a real hand. Tendons, connected to pairs of muscles which are pulling in opposite directions, work together to allow you to bend and straighten your fingers. Place your left hand on the top muscle of your right upper arm. You are touching a muscle called the biceps. Make a tight fist and bring the fist toward your shoulder. Your biceps will shorten and become harder as your arm is raised. Un-clench your fist, and stretch your arm out in front of you. Notice the change in size, shape, and hardness of your biceps? Now place your left hand under your upper arm. You are touching a muscle called the triceps. The triceps and biceps are paired muscles that pull in opposite directions. Biceps bend the arm while triceps straighten the arm. Make a tight fist, and move your arm toward and away from your shoulder. You can feel your triceps changing in size, shape, and hardness. Most of the movements of your body use at least two muscles working against each other. There are actually six muscles that work together to allow you to roll your eyes up, down, and sideways. COLORING PAGE SHOWING BICEPS AND TRICEPS IN ARM

More Muscle Facts

* About 1/2 of a man's body weight is muscle, and about 1/3 of a woman's. 

* The largest muscle in the body is the gluteus maximus in your buttocks. 

* There are about 200 muscles that work together when you walk. 

* The smallest muscle in the body is the stapedius, which is located in the middle ear. 

* Your tongue is actually made of a group of muscles that work together to allow you to talk and help you chew food. 

* The strongest muscle in your body is the one that allows you to close your jaw.

Activity Pages For This Lesson

Muscle System Word Find

Find the hidden words related to the muscular system.

Muscle Worksheet

Label the muscles

Projects To Do At Home

Brown Paper School book: Blood and Guts

by Linda Allison

This book includes several additional experiments which parents can do with their children at home to provide additional learning about the muscular system. The are directions for building a model arm, for dissecting a (beef) muscle, and for doing a muscle-tendon-joint dissection on a chicken wing, as well as some additional athletic activities the children can do to observe their muscles in action. While this book does contain some evolutionary references, the experiments are very good and it has wonderful drawings and step by step directions for dissections.