Eighth Grade Healthy Cooking

Healthy Cooking is a 3 week mini unit offered to every 8th grader over the course of the school year. Students are on a team of 3 or 4 and together they select recipes they would like to prepare and challenge themselves with. First they conduct a recipe analysis of the nutrition facts and then based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans identify reasons why this would be a good recipe to try in a Healthy Cooking class. Shopping lists are made and then they are ready to prepare and enjoy the efforts of their research. As a follow-up, each recipe earning the "8th grade stamp of approval," is submitted to a cookbook which each 8th grader receives at the end of the year. The recipe pages include why the team recommends the recipe, what they can claim as the nutritional value, a cook's tip for young chefs and a chef's vocabulary word.

As a side note: The Dietary Guidelines for Americans are the cornerstone of Federal nutrition policy and nutrition education activities. The Dietary Guidelines are jointly issued and updated every 5 years by the Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS). They provide authoritative advice for people about how good dietary habits can promote health and reduce risk for major chronic diseases. The 2005 Dietary Guidelines remain the current guidance until the 2010 Dietary Guidelines are published. (Taken from the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion)

Grade 8 Family Consumer Science Curriculum Objectives

2009