Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan: Food to Grow On

Length of sessions:

One 20 minute session
Three 30 minute sessions
One 45 minute session
One 60 minute session

Introduction Activity (20 minute session)
Read A Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. Discuss foods that humans eat: favorite foods, healthy foods, and junk foods. Introduce good nutrition as eating foods that help us to be healthy and to grow. Ask what the students already know about good nutrition? What foods are healthy (good) for us to eat? Teacher records on butcher paper.

Activity 1(30 minute session)
Read A First Look at Caterpillars by Millicent Selsam. Brainstorm or suggest a list of different kinds of foods the students think a caterpillar may eat. Record these foods on butcher paper. Tell the students that they are going to set up containers for the caterpillars and do some simple experiments to observe what they eat. In teams, have the students choose three or more different kinds of foods to place in the container. Encourage all teams to include the caterpillar's known foods as one of the foods in the container. (If they don't know, have the students find out what caterpillar they have and then have them find out what it eats (i.e., library, entomologists or naturalist). Decide who is going to bring or collect which foods to bring to class for the next Activity.

Activity 2(30 minute session)
Have teams of two to four children set up the caterpillar's rearing containers. Have the students measure the length of the caterpillars before placing them in the container. Record on record sheet. Using magnifiers, allow the students time for close observation and have them draw the caterpillar. Tell them to look very closely and draw as accurately as possible paying special attention to details (legs, antennae, mouth parts). Add the foods to the containers (Make sure the food that the caterpillar normally eats is included or it may starve!). At the bottom of the Food Chart, have the students write each food used under each column. Have the students circle the one food they think the caterpillars will eat. Observe the caterpillars over two to five days to see which foods they prefer. During each observation, students can count how many caterpillars are feeding at each different kind of food. Students can record observations in their journals and/or place the caterpillar's picture on the correct column of the chart showing what food they observed being tasted.

Activity 3(30 minute session)
Observe any changes in size of the caterpillars and any changes in the amount of each food remaining in containers. Record on the chart which foods are most frequently eaten (as described in Activity 2). Each day measure the caterpillars and record their growth. Discuss the findings. Remove the uneaten food so that it does not mold or decay.

Activity 4(45 minute session)
Review the findings. Make a class graph combining information from each team. Discuss how the graph shows which foods were preferred by the caterpillars. Why do you think they eat this particular diet? What do you think would happen if the caterpillars did not have the food that is healthy for them? Read Bread and Jam for Francis by Russell Hoban or Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judy Barrett. Discuss what foods the students would eat to have a strong, healthy body. Teacher records on butcher paper.

Closure Activity(60 minute session)
After reviewing what the students have learned about what insects eat, have them brainstorm foods they eat, have eaten in the last day or from Activity 4. Teacher records on butcher paper. Introduce the "Five Basic Food Groups" (see Food Power Tower in Lesson 14). Categorize foods that were brainstormed into these groups; create a sixth group for "Other." Discuss what foods students need for nourishment and what foods they prefer to eat. Suggest that eating is how we nourish our bodies to make them strong and healthy. Read Arnold LobelÕs story, "Cookies" in Frog and Toad Together. Discuss Frog and Toad's dialogue about needing willpower not to eat junk food, and generate ideas of what you would do if you were in such a situation.

Lesson Intro Set-up Lesson Plans Additions
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