My students are part of an elementary school where approximately 80% of the children are Hispanic. According to many of the studies and recommendations issued by various health groups Hispanic children in the U. S. tend to have a low intake of vegetables and fruits. This is not the case in the communities from where these children migrate. Children are dependent on their parents in making choices of food. One observation I have made is that much of the produce that immigrants consumed in their homelands are very expensive here and we as educators can help our students and their families to become aware of the importance to continue consuming vegetables and fruits even if they are different. I am an immigrant myself and the transition has been difficult because the fruits in the tropic are different in flavor and in texture. The other aspect is to educate the students so they can be informed consumers. My hope is that if we start in kindergarten we can impact our students in a fundamental way. The problem is how to help them make healthy choices and above all how can I teach them what is healthy and why and what is not healthy and why. Perhaps teaching them how to answer questions and how to find proof of truth, such as when we use the scientific method to answer many questions in nature and life.
Children’s dependency on parents’ decision making is an important issue to consider when developing or implementing a unit on food. Very seldom kids have a saying on what is consumed at home. Many factors influence what parents purchase to feed the family. The expense of tropical fruits and vegetables, and the difficulty of adjusting to a new diet are two important factors that influence many of the purchasing decisions of parents. As a teacher I need to address these points, as they are not in the minds of officials who have responsibility for school food programs. Furthermore, I need to find ways to involve parents as to make them aware of what choices are available. Thus, this curriculum unit needs to address home-school connection.
As a curriculum and staff developer I am required to address multiple issues with teachers to address a variety of children’s learning needs. Many of the issues can be address by developing appropriate curricula and by modeling strategies and behaviors that are more conducive to learning. In my professional experience both, children and educators will benefit from sharing concerns or questions and investigating to acquire knowledge through experience and dialogue. Thus, in addressing students’ cognitive and socio-developmental demands an instructional approach may provide them with otherwise unavailable experiences.
Food is a major part of a child’s daily routine and it can be used to teach them how to take responsibility for their actions. My premise is that children’s behaviors are learned and therefore, we could help them recognize damaging behaviors by teaching them healthy alternatives. Taking cultural differences into account and within the parameters of their own reality I can help my students find healthy alternatives. This has been true in my experience with previous interventions in which I have used an instructional approach to address guidance issues (behavioral and/or self-esteem). Students are able to acquire knowledge while engaging in self-exploration.
At the moment my understanding about this topic is still limited but I have identified information that must be addressed with the population I work. The seminar that I attended addressed the topics of food, environmental quality, and health. This seminar allowed me to increase my understanding of the impact that the environment could have on our food supply. In addition, it allowed me to access resources that increased my knowledge about the impact that food could have on our health as individuals, special populations, a nation, and globally.
The curriculum unit provides a map that will increase my effectiveness in conveying the information to my students by providing a clear and well-thought plan. It allowed me to develop a set outline of information necessary for my students. Moreover, the unit outlines a set of effective strategies to encourage students’ participation. Finally, it allows me to address the issue of healthy eating habits and responsibility.
Teaching students about food could be a fun adventure for both, the students and the educator. Yet, when you want to teach about eating responsibly to students in kindergarten many factors enter into play. Eating habits of children are: 1) learned at home, but 2) influenced by the circumstances of each individual, 3) the school they attend, 4) the schedule they have both, individually and as a group, and 5) individual preferences.
This topic came to mind after I saw a Science Fair project done by one of the Kindergarten classes in the school where I work. The children wanted to find out which of the major fast food burgers had the most fat. They chose to look into three different burgers, which the teacher purchased and brought to school. They put hot water in containers and placed each burger in the water. They left them there over night and the next morning they observed how much fat each container had. To their amazement their prediction of which burger would have the most fat was wrong. They realized that their visual and taste senses were not accurate. They also realized that one must formulate questions about what is eaten and engage in the scientific process to investigate what one consumes.
Considering that at the age of five children do not have much control of what goes on in their lives it is a challenge to teach them about responsibility. My idea to teach my kindergarten students about responsibility through the investigation of what they eat stemmed from this analysis. My professional opinion is that children and even adults learn and understand issues better if they inquire about it with a scientific process, such as posing questions, formulating hypotheses, observing phenomena, and analyzing, and drawing conclusions. To teach them the importance of making informed decisions I must find the appropriate pedagogical tools and educational materials that will address the following:
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Responsibility for individual consumption
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Responsibility for others - How their own eating choices affect others
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Responsibility for our environment and other species
The Background
How does one address these issues in a kindergarten classroom and how can I help my students understand the scientific method as a viable way of making informed decisions? Could the scientific method provide them with sounder knowledge to make choices? First I must pose some questions for my self; what do I know about:
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The risk of contaminants and additives in our food supply
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National children food habits
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Scientific inquiry
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How to make healthy choices
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How to teach about responsibility in Kindergarten
I want to start by providing the reader with the answers I found for these questions and the conclusions I draw out of this search of information in the literature and in the practice. I expect my conclusions may clarify how I go about using content information and pedagogical tools in developing and presenting my unit to my students.
Scientists have great difficulty in indicating what are the best ways to detect and combat contaminants in general due to the rapid development of substances in the food industry (Wargo, 2002). In addition, methods developed to preserve food utilized the addition of substances to it. These were food additives, such as salt (sodium chloride) and smoke, while the addition of various spices disguised the flavor of preserved food and made it more enjoyable to the taste. Salt and smoke are methods still employed today, while these and spices may be substitute by chemicals useful to preserve and increase the palatability of food. Many factors influence this search for the right additive; appearance, color, texture and the flavor of food, which is sometimes subject to experience and cultural tastes. Yet, all are clearly consumer bound; what we like is what we get or is it? First, we must start by learning, which are the contaminants and additives and understand how they find their way to our table.
Major Food Contaminants
Pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides
Antibiotics and hormones in animal tissues
Environmental contaminants
Metals - lead and mercury
Radioactive isotopes
Organic acids,
Hydrocarbon residues
Processing chemicals
Bleaches, solvent residues, waxes, dyes
Biological contaminants - endotoxins
Insect and parasite eggs, rodent feces
Bacteria, fungi, and viruses
Contaminants from shipping and storage
Adapted from: Drexler, M.
Major Food Additives
Anti caking agents
Antioxidants
Artificial sweeteners
Bleaching agents
Colors
Emulsifiers
Enzymes
Flavor enhancers
Flavors
Flour treatment agents
Food acids
Humectants
Minerals
Mineral salts
Preservatives
Propellants
Sequestrants
Thickeners
Vegetable gums
Vitamins
Adapted from: Bowes, D. M.
How do I talk to young children about this topic without creating a scare among them and their families? Perhaps we can talk about hygiene and our responsibility to keep our food clean in the same manner we keep our bodies clean. Also I may be able to use color and flavor to show how things may find their way into our food and the impact it has.
What about eating habits? Children have the ability to control their intake of food (Jonides, 2002). Not only that but they actually have become more adamant in respect to what they consume. In fact if we could work at enticing children to eat healthy food as Madison Avenue is working at selling them new products full of additives perhaps we too could be successful (applesforhealth.com, 2002). Children’s eating habits can be influenced at an early age by parents and definitely by teachers and other educators. A lot has been said about kids eating junk food but the fact is that many of us have diets with high salt, fat and sugar quantities. Our students need to know what this term means and how they can reduce the need to eat these type of food. Many times families opt for this type of food because they are easy to prepare or fast to buy. If we taught our students to snack on vegetables or fruits they may be able to consume less junk and more nutritional food.
Recently while visiting the local natural history museum I came across an article that made things clearer to me in terms of how science has been portrayed as for uncommon people. The article appeared on the Discovery Magazine of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History - Einstein and Frankenstein at play in
Jurassic Park.
Scientists seem to be extraordinary people who are either brilliant like Einstein or madly deranged like Frankenstein but never seen as an ordinary guy or gal who holds a job. Thus, limiting scientific inquiry to unordinary people. I realized that I must encourage my students to believe that anyone of them could be a scientist but further than that is to encourage them to actively participate in scientific inquiry to answer their questions about the world that surrounds them. It is crucial for students to realize that science is a process, a form of inquiry that provides a foundation for rational thought and responsible behavior.
Why scientific inquiry? According to many educators children learn concepts better if they can manipulate their environment while learning a new concept (Darling-Hammond, Wise, & Klein, 1999). To teach my students about making healthy eating choices and responsibility I wanted to use a process that fosters thoughtfulness. A topic such as the one I have chosen requires that my students are actively engaged in the process of learning and what best method to teach them but one that allows for critical thinking and intellectual growth. In addition, I can expose my students to the scientific method, which is an important part of our science focus program. What do I mean when I talk about the scientific method, this means that I will teach my students to share in the responsibility to learn from each other and even in the process of teaching new concepts and ideas. In addition, it means that they will learn a method to investigate problems posed by their environment and their curiosity. Laboratory science inquiry highlights for distinct traits of inquiry:
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Connecting personal understandings with those of sound science
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Observation of possible cause and effect relations
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Constructing hypotheses
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Designing experiments and collecting data
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Investigating phenomena
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Analyzing data to construct meaning from data and observations
Thus, this requires exploring, forming hypotheses, writing procedures, drawing conclusions, and analyzing data (Hinrichsen, 1999). To engage students in this process I intent to encourage them to use their own personal experience and what they observe in their environment at home, at school and at their community. This process of inquiry I hope will allow them to make connections, to pose questions, and to conduct observations to gain deeper understanding. Furthermore, they will have the opportunity to learn how to design a plan or procedure to collect data, manipulate materials. Thus, having to follow a plan, collect and present data or information and construct meaning. To do this children must engage in a reflective process that allows for their voice and those of others to be heard. Constructing and predicting are essential by-products of this process. Children must be afforded the opportunity to make connections based on their understanding of the phenomena they study and in turn make predictions about it.
Teaching children to make healthy choices and teaching responsibility go hand-in-hand. The information I found from reports on studies and implementation of programs show that if we want kids to learn about making responsible choices we must allow for them to make decisions and to do so they must pose questions (Zolten & Long, 1997). As we approach new experiences in life we must pose questions in respect to how we react to circumstances and what are the consequences of our actions. Children are young adults who need to establish a method to analyze circumstances and determine what must they do to be appropriate in the context where they are. To teach them to do this we must provide them with opportunities to make choices. At the same time we must provide them the support they need in understanding the experience and allow for dialogue with us (educators) and their peers. In other words my choice of combining the teaching of scientific inquiry and responsibility is critical in trying to increase my students’ understanding of their responsibility as consumers of food.
What is responsibility in terms of this unit involves the student’s responsibility to self, others, and the environment. To achieve the understanding of these concepts I have chosen a story-book called the Little Red Hen. This story narrates the circumstances of a hen that works very hard at home. Even though she has many friends she must do all the work by herself. Yet, her friends like to reap the benefits of her hard work. I want to use this story as a tool for my students to reflect on responsibility. Moreover, the story involves food and planting which will allow me to engage the students in learning about these topics.