Lower Campus Celebrates National Food Day!

On October 24th, the Lower Campus took part in National Food Day, a nationwide celebration and a movement for healthy, affordable and sustainable food. In addition to great read-alouds in the classrooms, here are some of the fun and educational events that took place throughout the day:

• Students in JPK made pumpkin muffins from scratch. They particularly enjoyed tasting the results!

• During lunch, students sampled three different types of local apples from Salinger's Orchard in Brewster, New York - McIntosh, Gala, and Macoun.

• Second graders were introduced to Spanish vocabulary for familiar foods using the Eno Board to provide visuals, and they learned proper pronunciation as well as key Spanish terms such as "me gusta/no me gusta" (I like/I don't like) using the new food vocabulary.

• In PE, students discussed healthy choices in food selection and why it is important to make them. The discussion culminated in a "fill my plate with healthy choices" relay race. Students raced to one end of the Sky Room and picked up a card with a picture of a food on it and ran with it back to their team. When all the cards were collected, each team discussed and then divided them into healthy and not so healthy choices. Thanks to Mr. Gagner for making the food cards used in the relay race!

• Fourth graders tested four beverages to determine the amount of Vitamin C content. They used a blue indicator test solution made from cornstarch, water and iodine (prepared by the teachers.) When Vitamin C is added to this test solution, it will turn colorless. The fewest number of drops needed to turn the blue indicator colorless, means the highest amount of Vitamin C content in the beverage. This titration experiment yielded the following results: Orange juice had the highest amount of Vitamin C with only 20 drops needed to turn the blue test solution to colorless. After adding 100 drops or more, Fanta, Sprite and Gatorade did not turn the test solution colorless. Lesson learned: the pictures of oranges, lemons and limes on beverages do not always mean that they contain Vitamin C!

• Kindergarten, First and Second grade Science: Kindergarteners were introduced to the five food groups by learning about the "MyPlate" image. The students learned what foods make up the building blocks for a healthy diet. They then "shopped" for foods to make their own "healthy plate." First graders used previous knowledge about the "MyPlate" image to brainstorm foods from each food group and draw and write them in their own healthy plate. They also read nutrition fact labels to compare calories, fat, and sugar in different foods. Second graders were able to cut and trace templates for each food group to compare the serving size of each. They also "shopped" for healthy foods from each group to fill their plate.

Check out the photo gallery to see some highlights from the day!