The Misplaced Menu!

A Nutrition WebQuest Intended for 4^th Graders

Introduction Task Process Resources Evaluation Conclusion

Introduction

Help! The president has just informed me that he wants to visit our school and eat a healthy lunch with the students. The cafeteria staff had something very nutritious on the menu, but somehow they have misplaced the menu. The cafeteria staff has contacted me to have you help them out. It is up to you to figure out what goes into making a nutritious meal, and help the cafeteria staff plan for the big event. We want the president to leave our school thinking that our school is one of the most nutritious schools he has ever eaten at! Are you up for the challenge? Good, I knew I could count on you. Go to the task to see your mission in more detail. Good Luck and happy planning!

Task

For your mission, you will need to do some research to find out what makes a healthy meal. It will be up to you to make sure the planned meal for the president is a nutritious one. You will complete a worksheet to help guide you in finding the information that you need. You will work in a team of three and you will need to decide who will do each job. The jobs are: a graphic designer (designs the layout for the menu), a nutritionist (makes sure the meal is well balanced), and a presentation manager (plans the presentation of the menu). As a group you will decide on a healthy meal that you can have for lunch with the president. Then you will create a menu that displays what will be for lunch. After you complete your menu, you will present it to the cafeteria staff (the class). Also, you will each write a fantasy story about your nutritious meal with the president. This will be a possible portfolio entry, so make sure you write these on your own. To get started, go to the process section.

Helpful hint: Every time you need to get back to this home page, click on the at the bottom of the pages.

Process

Step 1: Review the evaluation section to see which parts of your project will be

evaluated.

Step 2: Answer the questions on the worksheet to help guide you through your

research. Use the resources on this page to help you.

Step 3: Discuss with your group who will do which job (graphic designer, nutritionist,

or presentation manager). After you have decided, discuss what you have found

in your research. Use your answers on the worksheet to help guide your

discussion.

Step 4: Brainstorm with your group some possibilities for the nutritious meal your

school will serve to the president.

Step 5: From your brainstorming choose three or four meal possibilities that you could

include on your menu.

Step 6: Make an outline of your menu. Keep some of these questions in mind: Will

they have a choice for anything? Does the menu include well-balanced meals?

Do the chosen foods have nutritious value?

Step 7: After you complete your outline of the menu, the nutritionist needs to look over

it to make sure the meal(s) are well-balanced and have nutritional value.

Step 8: When the nutritionist is finished checking the outline, the graphic designer

begins creating the menu on Microsoft Word. Make sure you make the menu

extra special for the president!

Step 9: While the graphic designer is creating the menu, the presentation manager

should be developing the presentation for the cafeteria staff (the class). Think

about how you are going to share the menu with them, discussing the

nutritional value of the foods that are on the menu. The nutritionist will help

out with this part.

Step 10: Upon completion of the menu and preparation for the presentation, practice

your presentation with your group.

Step 11: Present your menu to the cafeteria staff (the class).

Step 12: After the presentation, each group member will write a fantasy story about

when the president ate a nutritious meal at your school. Be creative in your

story.

Resources

The following are some resources that you can use to help you conduct some of your research on nutrition. Click on the words to be linked to the websites. You may also find some resources in our classroom that may help you in your research.

Dole 5 a day 10 Tips to Healthy Eating

Fast Food Facts Healthy pyramid

Nutrition Cafe Kids Health

Fresh Starts Cool Meals

Nutrition Camp Kid Food

Food Pyramid Food Pyramid 2

Sample Menus

Evaluation

Collaboration in Group Work

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Contributions	Routinely provides useful ideas when participating in the group and in classroom discussion. A definite leader who contributes a lot of effort.	Usually provides useful ideas when participating in the group and in classroom discussion. A strong group member who tries hard!	Sometimes provides useful ideas when participating in the group and in classroom discussion. A satisfactory group member who does what is required.	Rarely provides useful ideas when participating in the group and in classroom discussion. May refuse to participate.
Attitude	Never is publicly critical of the project or the work of others. Always has a positive attitude about the task(s).	Rarely is publicly critical of the project or the work of others. Often has a positive attitude about the task(s).	Occasionally is publicly critical of the project or the work of other members of the group. Usually has a positive attitude about the task(s).	Often is publicly critical of the project or the work of other members of the group. Often has a positive attitude about the task(s).
Focus on the task	Consistently stays focused on the task and what needs to be done. Very self-directed.	Focuses on the task and what needs to be done most of the time. Other group members can count on this person.	Focuses on the task and what needs to be done some of the time. Other group members must sometimes nag, prod, and remind to keep this person on-task.	Rarely focuses on the task and what needs to be done. Lets others do the work.
Working with Others	Almost always listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others. Tries to keep people working well together.	Usually listens to, shares, with, and supports the efforts of others. Does not cause "waves" in the group.	Often listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others, but sometimes is not a good team member.	Rarely listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others. Often is not a good team player.
Preparedness	Brings needed materials to class and is always ready to work.	Almost always brings needed materials to class and is ready to work.	Almost always brings needed materials but sometimes needs to settle down and get to work	Often forgets needed materials or is rarely ready to get to work.
Pride	Work reflects this student's best efforts.	Work reflects a strong effort from this student.	Work reflects some effort from this student.	Work reflects very little effort on the part of this student

Evaluation of Menu

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Writing - Organization	Each section in the menu is clear and easy to understand.	Almost all sections of the menu are clear and easy to understand.	Most sections of the menu are clear and easy to understand.	Less than half of the sections of the menu are clear and easy to understand.
Writing - Grammar	There are no spelling/ grammatical mistakes in the menu.	There are no spelling/grammatical mistakes in the menu after feedback from an adult.	There are 1-2 spelling/grammatical mistakes in the menu even after feedback from an adult.	There are several spelling/ grammatical mistakes in the menu even after feedback from an adult.
Attractiveness & Organization	The menu has exceptionally attractive formatting and well-organized information.	The menu has attractive formatting and well-organized information.	The menu has well-organized information.	The menu's formatting and organization of material are confusing to the reader.
Knowledge Gained	All students in the group can accurately answer all questions related to the nutritional value of the meals in the menu.	All students in the group can accurately answer most questions related to the nutritional value of the meals in the menu.	Most students in the group can accurately answer most questions related to the nutritional value of the meals in the menu.	Several students in the group appear to have little knowledge about the nutritional value of the meals in the menu.
Graphics/Pictures	Graphics go well with the text and there is a good mix of text and graphics.	Graphics go well with the text, but there are so many that they distract from the text.	Graphics go well with the text, but there are too few and the brochure seems "text-heavy".	Graphics do not go with the accompanying text or appear to be randomly chosen.

Evaluation of Fantasy Story

The fantasy story will be evaluated using the Kentucky Holistic scoring guide for writing. You can find this scoring guide at the Kentucky Department of Education.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully completed your mission of creating a nutritious menu for when the president will be visiting our school. The cafeteria staff and I are very proud of you for applying your knowledge of nutrition into creating a fabulous menu. As a result of completing this WebQuest, you have demonstrated your ability to access a variety of information (including information from the different websites) to complete a project. Way to go. Now, I can’t wait until the president gets here!

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Created By S. Lilleston

July 26, 2002