Arianna's Nutrition Expedition™

Activity 6 - Arianna and the Combination Cookbook

Grade Level: 4th Grade/Upper Elementary
Estimated Time: 50 minutes
Rating:

Materials and Advance Prep

Preview the Suggested Instructional Strategy
Make one copy of the Food Benefits Matching Cards (PDF). Each row represents a set of four cards. Cut out enough rows so that each student has one card.
Students' Nutrition Journals (made in Activity 1)
Duplicate Combination Cookbook worksheet - 1 per student
Students' Folders (from Activity 1)
Review Combination Foods; pages 3 and 12 of the Nutrition Backgrounder (PDF).
Review the Interactive Nutrition Game, Combo Kitchen!™, available on NutritionExploration.org in Kids

Suggested Instructional Strategy
1. Using the Food Benefits Matching Cards, review of the Five Food Groups - the foods, the key nutrient, the health benefit, and the daily recommended servings.

Remind students that they did a similar review in Activity 3, but this time, it's a little different.

Pass one card from the Food Benefits Matching Cards to each student. On the board, write:
(Food) + (Food Group) + (Nutrient) + (Health Benefit)

Give the class time to find other students with cards that make a complete set. For example, a "Yogurt" must find: "Milk Group," "Calcium" and "Strong Bones and Teeth." Once students find each other, ask each group to prepare a "progressive" sentence (or sentences) in which each group member participates. The sentence(s) must state the daily recommended number of servings from that group. For example:
Person 1: I am yogurt
Person 2: in the Milk Group
Person 3: which provides calcium
Person 4: and which helps build strong bones and teeth.
All: Students our age need 3 servings from the Milk Group each day.

2. Explain that Arianna is involved in another nutrition mystery. Read her first journal entry and ask students to listen for the title of the book that Arianna found.

Arianna's Journal
August 17
Mystery seems to come looking for me these days. This morning my mother asked me to get something out of my great-grandmother's trunk. I went up to the attic and opened the old black chest. I could not find the papers my mother wanted. But what I did find was my great-granny's notebook of recipes. The title was printed across the cover: "Combination Cookbook."

I opened the book. Inside was page after page of recipes. The ingredients looked delicious. The instructions looked simple. But here's the weird thing. None of the recipes had names.

3. Ask:

What was the title of the book? Combination Cookbook
What do you think the title refers to? Accept all reasonable answers.
What are some synonyms for "combination"? Answers may include mixture, blend, union, grouping, etc.

4. Read Arianna's next Journal excerpt. Ask students to listen for the kind of recipes in the Combination Cookbook.

Arianna's Journal
August 21
It's been a few days since I discovered Great-Granny's Combination Cookbook. When I showed it to my mother she said she had never seen it before. She thought Grandma would be able to answer my questions. The problem is, Grandma has gone on a bus trip to the Grand Canyon and she won't be back until after Labor Day!

In the meantime, I've been reading through the cookbook. Quite interesting.

On the first page, Great-Granny wrote a quote: "You are what you eat." Sounds pretty modern for a person born in 1904, don't you think?

On page 19, there's a recipe that calls for dough (rolled into a circle), mozzarella cheese, Italian sausage, and tomato sauce. It kind of sounds like pizza to me.

On page 50, there's a recipe that calls for elbow noodles and cheese. That sounds like macaroni and cheese to me.

On page 23, there's a recipe that calls for a hard-shell tortilla, ground beef, cheese, chopped tomatoes, and shredded lettuce. I'd bet my last dollar that's a taco.

Besides not having names, there's something else odd about these foods - I don't know what food group they belong to.

When I asked my mother, she said, "They're Combination Foods."

"What food group is that?" I asked her.

"Well, you know," she said, "combinations."

This gets odder and odder.

5. Write "pizza," "macaroni and cheese" and "taco" on the board. Ask:

In what food group is pizza? How about macaroni and cheese? How about a taco? Each is made up of foods in several food groups.

Write "Combination Food" on the board. Remind students that the name of Arianna's great-grandmother's recipe book is "Combination Cookbook."

Think about the synonyms we generated for the word "combination." What do you think a Combination Food is? Accept all reasonable answers.

Explain:

A Combination Food is made by putting together or combining foods from two or more food groups.

6. Drawing and label a familiar Combination Food such as pizza. Ask students to take out their Nutrition Journals. Explain:

Today you'll learn about Combination Foods. We'll start by dissecting a pizza. After you write today's date on the top of your journal page, write this question:
"Is pizza nutritious?"
Think about your favorite pizza and answer the question.

7. Sketch and label a diagram of pizza (described below) on the board. Have students sketch and label the diagram in their Nutrition Journals.

Draw a large circle to represent the crust. Label the circle "crust."
Draw squiggly lines to represent the tomato sauce. Label one of the squiggly lines "tomato sauce."
Draw small triangles to represent the cheese. Label one of the small triangles "cheese."
Draw small circles to represent sausage. Label one of the circles "sausage."

8. Ask students to name each ingredient's food group. Write the food group name in parentheses on your diagram. Have students do the same.

In which food group is crust? Grain Group
In which food group is tomato sauce? Vegetable Group
In which food group is cheese? Milk Group
In which food group is sausage? Meat Group

9. Continue, labeling the diagram with the key nutrient associated with each ingredient next to the food group. Have students write the nutrients on their diagrams.

What nutrient does the crust provide? Carbohydrate
What nutrient does the tomato sauce provide? Vitamin A
What nutrient does the cheese provide? Calcium
What nutrient does the sausage provide? Protein

10. Review the health benefit provided by each ingredient orally.

What health benefit does the crust in the pizza provide? Energy
What health benefit does the tomato sauce provide? Night vision
What health benefits does the cheese provide? Strong bones and teeth
What health benefit does the sausage provide? Helps build strong muscles
Would you say pizza is a nutritious food? Why? Pizza is a nutritious food because it is made with foods from several food groups. It provides several nutrients and several health benefits.

Ask students if they would change their answer to the question "Is pizza nutritious?"

11. Continue, reading Arianna's third excerpt.

Arianna's Journal
September 8
I have finally gotten to the bottom of this mysterious cookbook from my dear old great-granny.

My grandma finally got home from the Grand Canyon. After I saw all her photos and heard about how she hiked to the bottom of the canyon, I pulled out the Combination Cookbook.

Grandma recognized it instantly.

These were all Combination Foods - foods made up of foods from two or more food groups. Grandma told me that her mom (my great-grandmother) always ate nutritiously. Great-Granny thought Combination Foods were brilliant because you were able to eat one food and get servings from two or more food groups.

And... the reason the recipes had no names? Great-Granny was a terrific cook. Everyone in town was always trying to get her recipes. But she was one of those kinds of cooks who didn't share her recipes. She figured keeping the recipes nameless would help keep them a secret. Of course, Grandma knew the names of all these foods. Since I'm Grandma's daughter's daughter, she told me straight out the name of every recipe.

And that's it! Another case closed for the fabulous detective, Arianna Bones!

12. Brainstorm other Combination Foods (e.g., ham and cheese sandwich, burrito, stew, lasagna, etc.). Before listing an item on the board ask students:

Does this food include more than one food group? What groups are in it?

13. Read the final excerpt from Arianna's Journal aloud.

Arianna's Journal
September 19
I have finished reading the Combination Cookbook and had a great idea. Why not use some of these recipes at The Five Star Bistro?

Of course, I had to check with Grandma for permission. After all, these were "secret" recipes.

Grandma said fine. Except for one thing.

She wouldn't let me tell anyone the names of the foods.

She said, "Back in my mother's day, many of these foods were unusual. Today, most of these foods are eaten by lots of people. However, to honor my promise to Great-Granny, you can't tell the restaurant owners the names of these recipes. They'll have to figure them out for themselves."

Of course, I promised to keep the names secret. But, I was pretty sure the restaurant owners would have no trouble figuring out what was what.

14. Distribute the Combination Cookbook handout. Working with a partner or small group, ask students to identify what Combination Food can be made from each recipe. Remind students to use the brainstorm list as a resource. Give students several minutes to complete the worksheet. Discuss the identity of each Mystery Food.

Mystery Food #1: Cheeseburger
MysteryMystery Food #3: French toast
Mystery Food #4: Chef's salad

Ask students to share their responses to the unfinished sentence at the bottom of the page. Have students save all work in their folders for Activity 8.

Have students orally identify the food groups, key nutrients and health benefits in the cheeseburger to reinforce that Combination Foods are nutritious.

Check for Understanding
15. Name the following foods. Have students give a "thumbs up" if the food is a Combination Food or a "thumbs down" if it is not.

Taco (thumbs up)
Macaroni and cheese (thumbs up)
English muffin (thumbs down)
Steak (thumbs down)
Turkey sandwich (thumbs up)
Chicken stir fry (thumbs up)
Cheeseburger (thumbs up)
Yogurt (thumbs down)
Lasagna (thumbs up)
Cheese omelet (thumbs up)

16. At a convenient time, introduce and arrange time for students to play Combo Kitchen!™.

17. Allow students to continue playing Quintricious!™ and Nutrition Mixer™ to reinforce the concepts taught earlier in the unit.

All of Arianna's games are found on NutritionExplorations.org in Kids.

Going Further
Combinations Two-Square
Have students name Combination Foods as they hit the ball and bounce it into their opponent's territory during a game of Two-Square.

Write Your Own Combination Food Recipe
Using a recipe format, have students write a Combination Food Recipe in their Nutrition Journals. Brainstorm actual Combination Foods that students could prepare. Or, let students invent fantasy foods and develop recipes for their inventions.

Combo Kitchen!™ Cookbook
When students play Combo Kitchen!™, they end the game by creating a crazy Combination Food. Put together a class cookbook of crazy Combo Kitchen creations.

Reviews

Play Five Food Group Bingo