Understanding By Design Unit Template

Title of Unit
Curriculum Area
Developed By

Interdisciplinary Nutrition
Biology and FACS
Gabe Thom & Grayce Wagner

Grade Level
Time Frame

High School
3 weeks, roughly 8 class periods

Identify Desired Results (Stage 1)

Content Standards
Science Standards:
CO Science: 2.6 (High School)
National FACS Standards:
FMCS.09 Demonstrate nutrition and wellness practices that enhance individual and family well-being.
FMCS.10 Demonstrate basic knowledge of the digestive tract and its functions, metabolism and energy balance.
FMCS.12 Synthesize wellness practices that impact an individual's physical and emotional health, optimal performance, quality of life
and longevity.

Understandings
Overarching Understanding
Food is made up of three macronutrients; carbohydrates, protein,
and fat.
These macronutrients have different chemical structures and
functions in the human body.
Each macronutrient plays distinct and vital roles in maintaining the
health of our bodies.
There are structural differences within the macro-nutrient
categories that make some healthier than others based on how they
work in the body.
Healthy eating is about balance and moderation.
Health is about more than being skinny.
Related Misconceptions
Some foods are inherently bad and should be completely avoided.
A diet is something to help you loose weight.
Diets that result in loosing weight are healthy diets.
Being skinny is healthy.

Essential Questions
Overarching

What is Nutrition?
What does it mean to
be healthy?
How does nutrition play
a role in health?
What role does food
have in your body?
How do I make healthy
decisions about my
nutrition?
Why is it important to
know more about
nutrition than just what
is popular knowledge?

Topical

What are the three

macro-nutrients/macromolecules?
What are the structural
and chemical
differences of the
macronutrients.
What role does each
macronutrient play in
the body?
How does
understanding the
different types of
carbohydrates help me
make healthy choices?
How does
understanding the
different types of fats
help me make healthy

choices?
What role does each
macro-nutrient play in
satiety?

Knowledge

Skills

Students will know

Students will be able to

Know what the differences are between types of each

macronutrient. (i.e. saturated vs. unsaturated fats, complex vs.
simple carbohydrates).
Know the percentage of each macronutrient a person needs to
maintain their health.
Know how many calories are in a gram of each macronutrient.

Identify foods that are high in each of the macronutrients.

Calculate the percentage of each macronutrient a person gets in
their diet.
Analyze different foods to assess their impact on a persons
health.
Calculate and analyze the different dietary needs of different
people based upon their activity levels, age

Assessment Evidence (Stage 2)

Performance Task Description
Goal
Role
Audience
Situation
Product/Performan
ce
Standards

To integrate knowledge about the structure and function of foods into skills that can help maintain health.
Experimenter/Scientist. Critical thinker, researcher, reporter.
Average high school student interested in health.
Students are reacting to the fact that many people have health problems that could be prevented or improved
by eating better nutrition (i.e. heart disease, cancer, type two diabetes).
Data gathered from completed experiments. A final eating/diet plan modeled for a specific client.
Synthesize wellness practices that impact an individual's physical and emotional health, optimal performance,
quality of life and longevity.

Other Evidence
Worksheets
Concept Maps
Brainstorms
Small group work notes

Learning Plan (Stage 3)

Where are your students headed? Where
have they been? How will you make sure
the students know where they are going?

How will you hook students at the

FACS:
Students have already studied the concept of wellness and what that means for
quality of life. The effect of exercise on health/wellness has been studied and
different lifetime activities have been practiced.
Walking is practiced every day (weather permitting) to foster a healthy outlook on
exercise and map changes in student heart rates.
Biology:
The first lesson plan in each unit will cover the importance of healthy eating.

beginning of the unit?

What events will help students experience

and explore the big idea and questions in
the unit? How will you equip them with
needed skills and knowledge?
How will you cause students to reflect and
rethink? How will you guide them in
rehearsing, revising, and refining their
work?
How will you help students to exhibit and
self-evaluate their growing skills,
knowledge, and understanding throughout
the unit?
How will you tailor and otherwise
personalize the learning plan to optimize
the engagement and effectiveness of ALL
students, without compromising the goals
of the unit?

How will you organize and sequence the

learning activities to optimize the
engagement and achievement of ALL
students?

FACS: Students will have a sampling of different foods spread out for them to look at
and then they can start to share what they think know about the different foods.
Lead the discussion to what is inside the food in regard to nutrients Then the
discussion will turn to what those different nutrients do for our health.
Biology: Students will get an introduction to macromolecules in a scientific terms
and then how that relates to real life in the form of food and healthy eating.
FACS: The protein research activity. Students will search for information and report
back to the class what they discover.
Biology: Blood sugar and Fats activities. Students will engage in several experiments
to better understand the differences within different macronutrients.
FACS: At the beginning of each lesson students reflect on what they already know or
think they know about certain macronutrients (i.e. brainstorming, kwl). Then after
students research, read and discuss they look back at their previous knowledge and
consider how it has changed.
Biology:
FACS: Through discussing preconceived notions about nutrition in small groups as
well as the entire class. Then students research and discuss the topic, synthesizing
what they have learned and sharing those discoveries with the class.
Biology: Classroom discussions about what students know, feel about, and then
observe about the different macronutrients.
FACS: Allow plenty of time for students to do their research and submit their
worksheets/projects.
Consciously pair certain students with others who are supportive and helpful.
Allow certain students to work in groups if necessary.
Biology: Pair advanced students with students who struggle with the material.
Allow students to turn in their work at as homework without docking points if they
need the time.
Providing grades that reflect a lot of participation and not simply getting the right
answer.
See individual Lesson Plans.

From: Wiggins, Grant and J. Mc Tighe. (1998). Understanding by Design, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
ISBN # 0-87120-313-8 (ppk)