UNIT ACTIVITY
GETTING ACTIVE
OBJECTIVE
In this activity, you will
● solve problems using strategic thinking
● analyze real-world situations
● employ online tools for research and analysis
INTRODUCTION
Imagine that you’re riding your bicycle fast down a steep hill. Would you consider letting go of the
handlebars? If you’re like most people, your answer is no. By letting go, you could lose control, careen off
the road, and get seriously hurt. This scenario is analogous to diet and exercise: if you don’t take control of
them, your health might head in the wrong direction. Part of taking control is developing the right attitude
toward health and wellness. It’s about taking action.
In this unit activity, you will do a self-assessment of your health. This assessment will include calculating
your body mass index and reviewing the foods you consume. You will learn about tools you can use, such
as nutrition labels, to help you maintain a healthy diet. You’ll even have an opportunity to propose changes
to your diet. Finally, you will assess which attitudes are important when participating in sports and physical
activity and how you can use these principles to develop a healthy attitude toward diet and exercise.
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SCORING
This project will be evaluated on a rubric that is based on the completeness, clarity, and thinking you exhibit
in the tasks.
Points possible: 10
Task 1: Calculating BMI Task Points: 1
BMI calculation and brief action plan (parts a and b) 1
Task 2: Reading Nutrition Labels Task Points: 2
a. Find high amounts on a nutrition label, figure total ounces of product, compute salt
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intake and saturated fat percentage (parts a, b, c, and d)
b. Daily servings of cholesterol, percentage of calories from protein, and predict the
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mystery food (parts e, f,and g)
Task 3: Tracking Calories Task Points: 4
a. Daily calorie limit and five-day calorie consumption (parts a and b) 3
b. Calorie comparison and brief action plan (parts c and d) 1
Task 4: Eating a Variety of Foods Task Points: 2
a. Recommended daily intake from the five food groups and sorting food choices
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(parts a and b)
b. Determine total cups or ounces consumed and compare with recommended daily
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intake (part c)
Task 5: Developing a Positive Attitude Task Points: 1
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Reflect on attitude toward diet
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TASK 1: CALCULATING BMI
Body mass index (BMI) is a ratio of a person’s weight and height. BMI is a tool that you can use to
determine whether you are underweight, at a healthy weight, overweight, or obese. Although the calculation
is the same for teens and adults, BMI is interpreted differently for the two groups.
PART A
To find your BMI, enter your weight in pounds and your height in inches in the formula below. Then solve
the equation. To check your answer, use this BMI calculator. Did your calculation match the generated
calculation?
Enter your answer to Part A here:
BMI: 20.5
My calculation matched the generated calculation.
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PART B
Review your results on the online BMI calculator. You can share the results with others if you’d like, or you
can keep them private. The results belong to you.
Look at the BMI categories to the right of the calculator and compare them with your results. You might be
surprised to learn that you are underweight or overweight. Perhaps you are right on target. Now, review the
resources in the “Aim for a Healthy Weight” section to the right of the calculator, as well as the other links
on the left side of the webpage. The information there gives information about what you should do to
control your BMI. In your own words, write about what you can do to control your BMI.
Enter your answer to Part B here:
My BMI lands in the average class of ranking. To protect and ensure my BPI doesn't go up or down, I
have to maintain a healthy diet, regular physical activity, and maintain a non-sedentary lifestyle.
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TASK 2: READING NUTRITION LABELS
You should now have a basic idea of whether you are underweight, at a healthy weight, or overweight. No
matter which category you belong to, diet and exercise are important for reaching or maintaining your
desired weight. This task focuses on diet and the tools you need to control it.
A hammer is to a carpenter as a nutrition label is to a consumer. A nutrition label is a tool that you can use
to monitor your food intake. Knowing how to read nutrition labels is an important element to maintaining a
healthy BMI. Study the nutrition label below. Then answer the questions that follow. You can formulate
answers on your own or learn more about nutrition labels from the US Food and Drug Administration.
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PART A
Which number on this nutrition label appears high? Which nutrient does the number represent? How might
the quantity of this nutrient affect your health?
Enter your answer to Part A here:
The number 310 seems the highest on this nutrition label. This number represents the nutrient: Calories.
Too many calories could result in obesity.
PART B
How many ounces of product are inside the entire container? How did you arrive at your answer?
Enter your answer to Part B here:
There are 4 servings in the container and one serving size is 5 oz. , therefore there are 20 oz. of product
inside the container.
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PART C
Based on the information on the label, what is the maximum amount of sodium (i.e., salt) an average
person should consume in one day? How did you arrive at your answer?
Enter your answer to Part C here:
The maximum amount of sodium that should be consumed would be less than 2400 mg. It says this
towards the bottom of the nutrition label.
PART D
With a doctor’s permission, how many servings of the product could a person eat before reaching 100
percent of their allowable daily intake for cholesterol? How did you arrive at your answer?
Enter your answer to Part D here:
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PART E
What percentage of the calories in the product come from protein? How did you arrive at your answer?
Enter your answer to Part E here:
Protein is 8% of the product. I got tis from adding all the percentages and then figuring out the missing
percentage to reach 100.
PART F
What kind of food might the nutrition label be describing? How did you come to that conclusion? Is the
number of calories per serving in this food considered low, moderate, or high? You might have to do some
additional research to decide.
Enter your answer to Part F here:
After doing some additional research, the foot label might belong to a turkey sandwich or a grilled
chicken sandwich. The number of calories in this serving is moderate.
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TASK 3: TRACKING CALORIES
On paper, maintaining your weight is quite simple: calories in must equal calories out. That is, the number
of calories that you eat must equal the number of calories that you burn. It’s a bit more complex, but that’s
the general idea. You gain calories by eating food, and you lose calories by exercising. This task focuses
on calorie consumption.
PART A
Visit this calorie calculator and enter only the required information. (Do not enter your email address or
create an account.) This section shows your daily calorie limit based on the information that you entered.
What is your daily calorie limit according to the tracker?
Enter your answer to Part A here:
Daily Calorie Intake: 2467
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PART B
Track everything that you eat and drink for five days. Enter the information in the table below. Add more
rows to the table as needed. Include the name of the food, the estimated amount consumed, and the
estimated number of calories. To obtain calorie counts, you can use nutrition labels or use the food
calculator. You do not have to be logged in to the site to get calorie counts.
To use the calculator to find calorie counts, follow these steps:
1. In the window that reads Search Food, enter the name of a food item (e.g., chicken rice soup).
Then click magnifying glass or press Enter.
2. You will see a list of food items that match your search. Select an item from the list (e.g., chicken
rice soup).
3. You will see details about the food you selected. Enter the number of servings and then click
calculate (e.g., 2).
4. The You've Consumed section shows the total number of calories for your food item (e.g., 2
servings of chicken rice soup contains 178 total calories).
Day Food Amount Calories
Monday
B greek yogurt with honey 300
and berries
L grilled chicken salad 450
D grilled steak with sweet 700
potato
Tuesday
B oatmeal with banana and 350
nuts
L turkey sandwich with 450
whole wheat bread
D stir-fried tofu with 600
vegetables
Wednesday
B Smoothie and Boiled Eggs 380
L Quinoa salad 400
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D Grilled Steak 500
Thursday
B Avocado with eggs 350
L Soup with whole grain 450
bread
D stir fried chicken with 700
brown rice
Friday
B whole wheat pancakes 400
with fruits
L shrimp and avocado salad 450
D stir fried beef with 700
vegetables
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PART C
Compute the total number of calories that you consumed on each of the five days. Record the five totals in
the table below. Also enter your daily calorie limit from the calorie tracker in the box provided.
Daily Calorie Limit: 2467 calories
Day Number of Calories Consumed
1 1450
2 1400
3 1280
4 1,500
5 1550
PART D
How does your daily calorie limit compare with the number of calories that you consumed on each of the
five days? If your goal is for your calorie input to equal your calorie output, what can you do to try and reach
that goal?
Enter your answer to Part D here:
The comparison between my daily calorie limit and the numbers of calories I digested in these five days,
it would be said that I hadn’t fully fulfilled my daily calorie intake and was almost near 100 or 120 calories
short. If I wanted to level my calorie intake and make it the same everyday, then I should maybe fit some
snacks which would equal-out each day.
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TASK 4: EATING A VARIETY OF FOODS
You now know what you’re eating. And you know whether your calorie counts are low, high, or just right.
So, how might you change those calorie counts? One way is by eating a variety of foods from the five food
groups: grain, vegetables, fruit, dairy, and protein. In this task, you will compare the foods you’re eating to
foods that are considered healthy by filling in the tables.
PART A
Log in to MyPlate Plan and follow the instructions to calculate your food plan. This will take you to a page
that has two options. Click on the tab that indicates the calories you need to achieve a healthy weight. This
will take you to a page that shows the daily recommended amounts for each food group. These targets
were created specifically for you based on the information you provided. The targets include the amount of
food you should consume from each of the five food groups. Enter your targets in the boxes in the second
row of the table. Be sure to include the units, such as ounces or cups.
Food Group Grain Vegetable Fruit Dairy Protein
Target Amount 10 ounces 4 cups 5/2 cups 3 cups 7 ounces
(per day)
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PART B
Next, choose one of the five days that you tracked in task 3. Copy the names of all the food items and the
amounts from that day into the table.(You do not need to enter calories for this task.) Place the foods into
the food groups in which they belong and enter the amount of grain, vegetable, fruit, dairy, or protein that
amount of food provides. For example, one cup of white rice provides a half-ounce of grain.
If a food belongs to more than one group, do your best to break up the food. For example, if you ate a
breakfast sandwich, you might break it up into a bagel (grain), a slice of cheese (dairy), and an egg
(protein). If you need more information, click on the specific food group at MyPlate. You’ll also find
information on what counts as a cup of fruit or vegetable and the ounce-equivalents for various grains,
dairy, and protein foods. Three cells have been completed to show the example of a breakfast sandwich.
Write over those cells with your own responses.
Grain Vegetable Fruit Dairy Protein
___ per day ___ per day ___ per day ___ per day ___ per day
breakfast cheese on egg on breakfast
sandwich bagel: 4 breakfast sandwich: 2
ounces grain sandwich: 0.5 cup ounces protein
dairy
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PART C
Look back to Part A. Copy the target amount per day for each food group into the Target Amount (per day)
row of this table.
Next, look back to Part B. Total each column of that table. Write the number of cups or ounces in the Total
Amount Consumed row of this table. In which food groups did you meet or exceed your daily food group
target? In which food groups did you fall short? Explain.
Food Group Grain Vegetable Fruit Dairy Protein
Target Amount
(per day)
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TASK 5: DEVELOPING A POSITIVE ATTITUDE
In this unit, you’ve learned that participating in sports can teach you life lessons. The lessons reach far
beyond the world of sports. They include persistence, teamwork, sportsmanship, leadership, and conflict
resolution. How can you apply some or all of these ideas to controlling your diet and committing to regular
exercise? How can these ideas, borrowed from the world of sports, support the work you completed in
tasks 1 through 4?
Enter your answer to Task 5 here:
Persistence and Conflict Resolution are key things to maintaining a healthy diet and not going off track
from it. There are two main things because persistence helps a person in committing and conflict
resolution is helping him overpower his inner desires to stay on the diet when he wants to go away.
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