In the Choice, Control & Change: Using Science to Make Food and Activity Decisions curriculum, students learn how an understanding of biology, built environment, and personal behaviors impact weight and healht. The curriculum's driving question — How can we use scientific evidence to help us make healthful food and activity choices? — frames students' investigations of how the human body works and how food and activity play a crucial role in its well-being — critical ideas in science. Students engage in hands-on investigations of "dynamic equilibrium" — energy intake and expenditure. They explore food preference, their food environment, lifestyle-related diseases, and more. Students examine their personal food choices and use scientific reasoning to analyze what they find out. Finally, they apply what they have learned by making personal decisions related to their diet, physical activity, and overall health.
Designed for use in grades 6, 7, or 8, the Choice, Control & Change teacher guide includes:
Lesson plans with helpful background information, practical teaching tips, and tools for assessment
Student activity sheets and reading
A matrix that maps Choice, Control & Change to the National Science Education Standards and Benchmarks for Science Literacy
Explore: the big ideas and learning objective for the units in Choice, Control & Change (PDF)
Learn: more about Choice, Control & Change and what other teachers have to say
Watch: an overview of Choice, Control & Change
Review: the table of contents from Choice, Control & Change (PDF)
Read: how to help students make sense of the dynamic balance in NSTA’s Science Scope (PDF)
Try: Lesson 15 - Keeping the Flow (PDF)
Buy: your copy from LiFE’s publisher, the National Gardening Association
Share: Choice, Control & Change flyer (PDF)
Play: Creature 101 an interactive computer game based on the content of Choice, Control & Change
Choice, Control & Change was made possible by a Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA), from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NCRR or NIH.