Station Scripts

1. Oklahoma Farmland 2. A Farmer’s Life 3. Farmers Market 4. The Mouth 5. The Stomach 6. The Intestines 7. The Muscles 8. The Bones 9. The Brain

Overall Project Aim The aim of the project is to increase the awareness in elementary school age children of the link between agriculture, nutrition & health. The messages utilize research-based information, address major health concerns of the target audience in Oklahoma and incorporate the missions of the collaborating partners including Oklahoma Cooperative Extension (OCES) Service 4-H, Family and Consumer Sciences and Agriculture Education programs, OSU Department of Nutritional Sciences, Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) WIC Service, Southwest Dairy, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP-Ed). Major health concerns of youth in Oklahoma include the following (Oklahoma State Department of Health, State of the State’s Health Reports, 2006 & 2007). • High prevalence of dental decay. • Increasing rates of overweight and obesity. • Limited physical activity. • Low consumption of fruits and vegetables. • High rate of smoking among adolescents & teens. Project Description The walk-through exhibit is a series of nine stations. Small groups of approximately eight to ten students begin the educational, interactive experience at Farmer Pete’s Garden. They follow the food grown on the farm to an adventure through the body to learn how it is digested, absorbed and utilized in bones and muscles. At each station, community or school volunteers use a written script to engage students in approximately a six minute dialogue and activity. Messages have been written to be age appropriate for grades K-6. Classrooms will be divided into small groups of 8 to 10 students to progress through the exhibit, causing some students to be delayed in beginning while others will need to wait at the end for their classmates to complete the exhibit. Physical activity dice and nutrition toss balls will be available for the small group to use during the wait time. Some students may be asked to complete pre/post evaluation surveys. While students are progressing through the exhibit, the exhibit coordinator will be responsible for keeping time and blowing notifying the group presenters that it is time to rotate students to the next stations. The exhibit is designed to enhance current OCES & OSDH nutrition, health and agricultural programming. For maximum impact on health related knowledge and behaviors, schools and community organizations should utilize multi-faceted approach including 1) a series of nutrition education lessons offered by OCES Healthy Oklahoma Impact Team, Community Nutrition Education Program and/or 4-H; 2) Ag in the Classroom lessons to integrate agriculture and

nutrition concepts into core curriculum, 3) Farm to You exhibit and 4) the activity newsletter to extend messages into the home environment. Output, Outcomes & Impact • Approximately 30,000 Oklahoma elementary school-age children will participate in the Farm-

to-You, interactive, educational exhibit each year. • Students will demonstrate increased awareness of the link between agriculture, nutrition and

health. • Students will have increased intent for increasing fat-free, low-fat or reduced-fat milk, fruit

and vegetable consumption and physical activity. • Elementary schools and community programs targeting elementary school age children will

increase utilization of OCES nutrition and health programming including OCES Healthy Oklahoma Impact Team, Community Nutrition Education Program, and Ag in the Classroom as measured by an increased number of programs scheduled.

Staffing Requirements 8 - 10 community or school volunteers will be needed to help set – up and take – down the exhibit. Additionally, 10 volunteers are needed to deliver the station messages. Each classroom will need a teacher or another adult for each group of 8 to 10 students to accompany them through the exhibit stations.

Station #1 Oklahoma Farmland

Key Concept:

1. Farms provide foods that are important for good health. 2. All of our food comes from farms.

Key Outcomes:

Students will be able to:

1. Name foods grown in Oklahoma. 2. Identify common foods grown in Oklahoma and the places these are typically farmed.

Student Activities:

Students will match foods grown in Oklahoma to regions they are grown in.

Script:

Graphics Script

Made in Oklahoma Welcome to ‘Made in Oklahoma!’ Please come take a seat around this map of our Great State!

We all know that foods come from farms, but do you know how many farms we have right here in Oklahoma?

Pause for responses

Those are some good guesses!

There are 78,000 farms in Oklahoma, which makes us one of the top farming states in the country!

Oklahoma farmers and ranchers grow all types of things, like fruits, vegetables, and grains. They also raise animals that provide foods like meat and dairy. This type of work is called agriculture. Can you help me locate

what part of the state you live in? Which type of crops grow where you live? Refer to Oklahoma carpet and help students identify which crop is grown close to their city.

Beef cows

Can anyone tell me what type of food we get from this cow? Pause from responses.

That’s right! It’s a beef cow. We are probably all familiar with what a beef cow is, but not many of us know what it’s like to work with cows every day!

Beef farmers and ranchers in Oklahoma work hard to take care of their cattle. This means waking up very early to feed and care for them, protecting them from illness and predators, and even protecting them from extreme weather! In Oklahoma extreme weather could be either really hot, really cold, severe weather, or even snow storms!

A lot of work goes into making sure their cows are well taken care of so they can produce the very best beef for us.

Our great state is the #2 producer of beef cows! In fact, every county in our state raises cattle! Beef provides us with many important nutrients that you will learn more about throughout your time here today.

Can you name some of your favorite foods that include beef?

Pause for responses

Dairy Cows

Can anyone tell me what type of food we get from this cow?

Pause for responses.

Milk! Milk is part of the dairy food group. These dairy cows provide milk for us to drink, or to make yogurt, cheese, butter, and even ice cream!

Dairy farmers work hard to make sure that we have yummy milk to drink with our meals. Can you point to the region in Oklahoma where many dairy farmers live? Refer to Oklahoma mat.

Chickens Here’s another animal that farmers raise in Oklahoma! Did any of you have eggs for breakfast?

Pause for responses

Does anyone here raise chickens at home?

Pause for responses

Eggs are another food that is good for our bodies that we will learn about. Many farmers in Oklahoma raise chickens.

Can you locate where many of our Oklahoma chicken farmers live? Help students identify location on the map

Wheat

Does anyone know what this plant is?

Pause for responses

This is a wheat plant and you can find it growing along many of our Oklahoma highways!

I bet many of you had a food that contains wheat for breakfast today!

Many foods like cereal, bread, and muffins contain wheat. Oklahoma farmers also grow other grains like rye, canola, and corn. Let’s look for wheat on the map of Oklahoma.

Help students identify where wheat is grown on Oklahoma map.

Watermelon Raise your hand if you like to eat this food!

Did you know that Oklahoma produces a large number of watermelons every year?

Watermelons grow well in the sandy soils in West Central, South Central and Eastern Oklahoma.

Point to watermelon growing locations on map.

Pigs

Oklahoma also is one of the top pork producing states in the US, we rank #8!

Can anyone show me on this map of Oklahoma where many of our pig farmers live?

Refer to Oklahoma map.Now that we’ve learned about some of the top agriculture products we produce in our state, let’s learn more about a typical day in the life of our farmers! Thanks for stopping by!

Station #2 A Farmer’s Life

Key Concepts: 1. Learn about some of the different types of farming in Oklahoma. 2. Understand basics of some farming practices.

Key Outcomes: Students will be able to: 1. Identify some of the typical routines of farmers. 2. Understand that farmers play crucial role in providing food for us. 3. Know that milk comes from cows and understand about modern milking techniques vs

milking by hand. Student Activities: Students practice milking the cow.

Station 2- A Farmer’s Life Graphics Script Farmers Since there are not that many farmers in the

United States, many of us probably don’t have a very good idea of how hard they work each day. When we sit down to eat our meals, a lot of people do not think about the number of people who worked hard to get this food to us. Farmers’ and ranchers’ biggest job is to provide good food to people like us. But farmers don’t just worry about the food they produce, they have to make sure that they are farming in a way that cares for the land! There is so much to learn about farming in Oklahoma, but we only have a few minutes today. Let’s talk about some common practices on many of our Oklahoma Farms!

Man in scrubs/pig farm You learned at your last stop that there are many pig farmers in Oklahoma. Do any of you recognize this man’s uniform?

(Refer to picture of man in scrubs). This uniform is usually worn to what type of jobs? (Pause for responses, answers can include: doctors, nurses, etc.). You are right! Many doctors and nurses wear these types of clothes to do their jobs, but so do a lot of pig farmers! Does anyone know why? Pause for responses Clothes like the ones in the picture, called scrubs, can help farmers keep their pigs’ living areas clean and free of disease! Just like us, pigs need to be protected from bad germs that can make them sick. Farmers do this by making sure they are as clean as possible and are wearing clean clothes when they are working with the pigs. Many farmers shower both before and after they see the pigs each day. They also will change their shoes before and after they see their pigs. This helps to keep the pigs healthy!

Watermelons

Earlier you learned that watermelon is grown in Oklahoma, so let’s learn more about it! I have a quick question for you all, why do you think watermelon has the name that it does? Pause for responses You’re right! It’s because it is mostly made of water. In fact, it is over 90% water!

Even though it is mostly water, it also has many good nutrients in it and as you know, we grow it in our great state! We usually eat watermelons in the summer time. So, to make sure that they are ready for us to enjoy by then, farmers start planting watermelon seeds in March and April in Oklahoma. Farmers have to be really careful that the ground is warm enough before they plant the seeds to help make sure they will grow. These farmers have to pay close attention to the weather, making sure their crops get enough water, not too much wind, and not too much heat! That’s a tough job when you live in Oklahoma!

Dairy cows Does anyone remember what type of cow this is? Pause for responses You’re right! It’s a dairy cow! At the last station, you learned about how we have a lot of dairy farms in Oklahoma, which is where our milk and other dairy products come from! Milk is so important that Oklahoma made it the state’s official drink! Have any of you been to a dairy farm before? How many of you have milked a cow? Pause for responses

Being a dairy farmer is a lot of work. Cows have to get milked 2-3 times every single day. Thanks to technology though, many farmers are able to use machines to help milk their cows. This way they are able to milk more than one cow at the same time. Refer to picture. Would you like to try to milk this cow by hand? Demonstrate milking the cow and allow students to take a turn milking the cow. Thanks for stopping by to learn more about farming in Oklahoma! Now you can learn about how our food gets to you at the market!

Station #3 Farmer’s Market

Key Concept:

1. Students will learn how to “shop” for healthy foods. 2. Students will understand the importance of farmers in different climates providing

different types of foods for us. Key Outcomes:

Students will be able to:

1. Know and identify the different food groups on MyPlate 2. Identify the components that meet the MyPlate guidelines.

Student Activities:

Students will practice choosing healthy food at the market to meet the MyPlate guidelines.

Script:

Station 3- Farmers Market Graphics Script Farmers Market Welcome to the Farmers’ Market!

Many farmers bring their foods straight from their farms to the farmers’ market so people like you and me can buy it! At a farmers’ market or at a grocery store, we get to decide what foods we are going to buy. Something really important we need to think about is how the foods we will buy will help our health! As you can see there are many options at my farmers’ market! Do you remember the foods grown on Oklahoma Farms? Can you name some of them? Pause for responses (meat, milk, eggs, watermelon, grains for bread, etc.)

Good job! I have many of those Oklahoma foods right here at my market. I also have a lot of other foods that we aren’t able to grow in Oklahoma. Do any of you know why we can’t grow all of our food here? Pause for responses (It’s too warm/cold, not enough rain, etc.) That’s right! Different climates all over the world allow farmers to grow different types of foods! That’s why it’s so great that we can transport food from faraway so that we can get a large variety! A large variety of food helps keep us as healthy as possible! If we couldn’t transport our foods, we would never get to eat foods like fish, bananas, oranges, or lots of other delicious, healthy foods! So, thank you to those farmers in other part of the United States or even across the world who help make sure we can have a healthy diet! Let’s give all of our farmers a big round of applause!

Myplate graphic Who knows what this is? (Refer to MyPlate graphic.)

Pause for responses.

It’s MyPlate! It was developed by nutrition experts to help us know how to eat healthy. Because there are so many choices for us at grocery stores and markets, it’s good for us to have the MyPlate guidelines so that we can make the best choices for our health!

Can you help me build a healthy MyPlate with the food from my market?

Myplate red graphic

The red section of MyPlate is the fruit group. I have lots of fruits here to choose from,

thanks to our farmers! Can someone pick one of these for our MyPlate? (select a student to choose a fruit) Good job! We should make sure to make fruit a regular part of our diet! Try to have some at every meal, or as part of a snack!

MyPlate green graphic

The green section of Myplate is the vegetable section. Farmers grow these vegetables in green houses or fields. Can someone select a vegetable for our plate? (select a student to choose a vegetable).

Great job! Fruits and vegetables are very important for us to eat. As you can see, they make up half of our MyPlate! Does anyone know why they are so good for us? They have lots of vitamins and minerals that help keep us healthy!

MyPlate purple graphic Now this section might be a little harder!

This is called the protein section. Can anyone tell me what foods are considered protein and would fit in this section? Pause for responses Foods like beef, chicken, beans, eggs, fish, and even nuts and seeds are called proteins. Can someone choose one of those foods to add to our great meal?

MyPlate orange graphic As you can see, grains should also be part of every meal. They should make up ¼ of our plates. Can you select one of these foods for our grains section? (Whole wheat bread, rice, corn tortilla, oatmeal). Does anyone know why we need to have these whole grains? Pause for responses

Grains give us energy to grow and play! When we eat foods made from whole grains, like the ones you see here, they help our body have the energy to do everything we need it to throughout the day!

MyPlate blue graphic The last section of MyPlate is the blue section. This section is the dairy section. Can anyone tell me what foods count as dairy? Pause for responses Foods like milk, yogurt, and cheese fit in this section. Try to include low-fat options at each meal! Now that you know how to choose foods at the market to build a healthy MyPlate, you are ready to continue on your journey! We’ve learned how the farmers grow all of our food and how we can choose healthy foods at the market. Now let’s explore what this food does in our bodies! Yournext stop is the mouth!

Station #4 The Mouth

Key Concepts:

1. Students will understand that the mouth is the starting point of digestion. 2. You need a healthy mouth to enjoy your food.

Key Outcomes:

1. Students will be able to identify foods that promote a healthy mouth. 2. Students will understand that water is an important part of oral health. 3. Students will understand the proper teeth brushing guidelines.

Student Activities:

1. Students practice brushing large teeth and tongue with toothbrush.

Student Activities:

Script:

Station 4- Mouth Graphics Script Kid’s mouth Welcome to the mouth station!

Our mouths help us to break down the foods we eat with the help of our teeth and tongue. This helps the nutrients in our foods travel through our bodies so we can use them to provide energy and to stay healthy! Our teeth are specially shaped so they can all work together to chew our food into tiny pieces so we can swallow. Eating three meals each day for the rest of our lives means our teeth will have to work hard for a very long time! Our teeth are the strongest part of our whole body, they are even stronger than our bones! Our teeth and tongue also play an important role in our ability to talk! Let’s learn how we can have a healthy mouth!

Mouth and calcium graphic Did you visit the Farmer’s Market? Did you choose any yogurt, cheese or milk while you were there?

Pause for responses I’m glad you did because these are foods that help keep our teeth strong our whole life! These foods contain a mineral called calcium, which is what forms our teeth! Eating a dairy food with each meal will help keep your teeth strong!

Healthy food graphic Did you choose any fruits or vegetables at the market? Pause for responses Great! These foods have vitamins called vitamin A andvitamin C in them that can help keep our gums healthy. Healthy gums are very important for healthy mouths! There are many foods we should eat to help keep our mouths healthy, but there is also something you should drink often to help your teeth stay healthy. Does anyone know what drink this is? (Pause for responses, then flip to next page).

Water graphic Water! That’s right! Water is a great drink for your teeth because it helps wash away germs and bacteria. It also contains a mineral called fluoride that helps your teeth stay strong. Just like when you chose foods at the market, you can choose to drink water or milk to help your teeth and body stay healthy.

People brushing teeth

We’ve talked about what things we should eat and drink, now let’s talk about cleaning our mouths! How many times should you brush your teeth each day? Pause for responses (Two!)

Yes, you should brush your teeth two times per day for two minutes each time. That’s about the same amount of time it takes to sing the ABC’s three times. We also need to make sure to brush our tongues. I’ll use this big toothbrush to demonstrate the proper way to brush teeth and then I will choose one of you to help me brush the tongue! Good job! I hope you remember to choose the best foods for your mouth! Now you will be swallowed into the stomach to continue on your journey!

Station #5 The Stomach

Key Concepts:

1. Feelings of fullness/hunger are cues to help control eating. 2. The stomach is part of the digestive system. 3. Students will learn the concept of Go/Slow/Whoa foods.

Key Outcomes:

1. Students will have a basic understanding of the stomach’s role in digestion 2. Students will be able to identify Go/Slow/Whoa foods. 3.

Student Activities: 1. Students will participate in Go/Slow/Whoa food game.

Station 5 – Stomach Graphics Script Stomach graphic Welcome to the next stop in digestion, the

stomach! Here is where food is broken down and stored until it gets emptied into the intestines. Your stomach is a stretchy sac that works a little bit like a blender. Your stomach makes a special kind of fluid, called gastric juice, which mixes with the foods we eat. This helps our foods be broken down even more so they can travel to our intestines and be carried throughout our bodies. These special juices made in your stomach also protect our body from germs!

Healthy food graphic

Making sure we get enough food and the right types of foods is the best way to fill our stomach and fuel our bodies. Listening to our body to help us know how much we need to eat is one way to make sure we are taking good care of our bodies. We can also think with our brains to help us decide which foods we choose to eat each day. Do you all agree that there are some foods that we should eat more often than other foods? Why is this?

Pause for responses. Some foods are very good for our bodies because they provide special nutrients. Our bodies need these nutrients each and every day to stay healthy We call these foods “Go” foods. There are also foods that we don’t need every day, and we should choose them just a few times each week. We can call these foods “Slow” foods since we should only eat them sometimes. Lastly, there are foods that our bodies don’t need very often at all because they aren’t as healthy for us as others. These should only be eaten every once in a while, and we can call these “Whoa” foods.

Green light foods “Go” foods are the foods we need every day. Some “Go” foods include foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grain rice or bread, fat-free and low-fat cheese, milk, and yogurt, beans, and lean meats like turkey, chicken, fish and lean beef.

Yellow light foods

“Slow” foods are the foods we can choose a few times each week. Some of the “slow” foods include foods like white bread and pasta, fruit juice, peanut butter, and frozen yogurt.

Red light foods

“Whoa” foods are the foods we should only choose once in a while. “Whoa” foods include foods like soda, ice cream, French fries, fried chicken, gravy, queso, chips, and donuts. These foods should be saved for special occasions and shouldn’t be the main foods we choose each day.

Stop light Let’s practice some more with the “go, slow,

and whoa” foods!”. As I hold up a food, let’s decide as a group whether it’s “go”, “slow”, or “whoa” food. Remember, just because a food is in the “whoa” category doesn’t mean it’s a “bad” food, it just means we shouldn’t eat it as often as other foods that are better for our bodies. We should all try to eat “go” foods most of the time and “whoa” foods on special occasions!

Station #6 The Intestines

Key Concepts:

1. Students will learn that the intestines are the final stop in digestive system. 2. Fiber helps keep the intestines healthy. 3. Villi are responsible for transport of nutrients to the body.

Key Outcomes:

1. Students will have an understanding of what happens to food in the intestines 2. Name foods high in fiber. 3. Identify the function of villi.

Student Activities:

1. Fiber demonstration.

Station 6 – Intestines Graphics Script Intestines graphic Welcome to the intestines! Here is where all of the

broken down foods that arrive from the stomach can now be absorbed and taken to all the different parts of our bodies! Our intestines are busy day and night absorbing important nutrients and delivering them to all of the other parts of the body.

Villi graphic Point to villi. Does anyone know what these are called? These are called villi and they are found in your intestines. The job of the villi is to take the nutrients in the small intestine to your blood so that they can be delivered all over your body to other organs to use!

Intestines and nutrients graphic Not only do our intestines absorb nutrients, they also remove waste and bacteria that our bodies don’t need. Just like trash in our homes needs to be removed, so do the toxins and wastes in our bodies. This is a very important job that has to occur so that we can stay healthy!

There are a few things we can do to help keep our intestines healthy so they work properly all of our life! Does anyone know what they are?

Fiber graphic Eat FIBER!! Fiber is found in foods like beans, fruits, vegetables, oats, nuts and whole grains. Fiber helps keep us full, and helps clean our intestines! Let me demonstrate how this works for you. I have a tube here that will be our intestines for this example. Throughout the day as we eat and drink, food waste and bacteria can stick to the walls of our intestines. It’s okay for these things to be in our intestines for a little while, but if they stay there for a long time it isn’t very healthy for our bodies. However, the fiber found in some foods comes down the intestines and cleans these foods out of the intestines and out of our bodies! (Demonstrate pouring the “fiber” down the tube and show how it cleans the intestines of waste). Does anyone have another idea of how to keep our intestines healthy? Wait for responses, then turn page

Water graphic Drink lots of water! Water helps the nutrients in our intestines travel to the blood to be delivered to other parts of our bodies! This is also the next stop on your journey in Farm to You! Next you are going to travel through the tunnel that is like the blood in our bodies, to be delivered to the muscles.

Station #7 The Muscles

Key Concepts:

1. Muscles need foods rich in protein and carbohydrates. 2. Exercise helps make muscles strong.

Key Outcomes:

1. Students will be able to name foods that help promote muscle growth and maintenance. 2. Students will understand the importance of exercise and the recommended amount.

Student Activities: Students practice working out and then identify the muscles they used.

Station 7 - Muscles Graphics Script Muscles graphic

Welcome to the muscles! We have muscles all over our bodies, between our bones and skin. Some of our muscles are also located inside our organs, like our heart!Muscles make up 1/3-1/2 of our bodies, which is a lot!

Facial expressions graphic Muscles allow our bodies to move and work in all the ways we need them to. Can you all smile for me? Now can you frown? Those seem like pretty easy movements, but they both require the work of muscles. In fact, our faces contain 43 muscles!

People playing sports

Now think about bigger movements, like playing soccer, riding a bike, and swimming? These movements require many muscles to work together to get the job done. It’s safe to say muscles play a big role in our bodies, right? How do you think we should take care of them? Pause for responses

MyPlate graphic We can take care of our muscles by eating healthy! That’s right, like everything you’ve learned so far today, eating healthy is one way to make our muscles strong. Can you guess what types of foods that you chose at the market will be helpful to grow our muscles? Pause for responses.

MyPlate protein Foods that are high in protein, like eggs, meats, beans, and dairy all contain proteins that are good for our muscles.

MyPlate grains Can you name another food that you picked at the market that is good for our muscles? Pause for responses Carbohydrates are good for our muscles because they provide energy. Grains, fruits and vegetables provide carbohydrates. Carbohydrates give us energy the same way that gasoline makes a car go. If we don’t eat enough, we don’t have energy to go!

Physical activity graphic

Besides eating healthy, what else do you think you can do to help grow your muscles strong? Pause for responses Exercise! That’s right. Our muscles need us to use them so they can grow big and strong. What are some of your favorite ways to exercise? Pause for responses. Let’s practice a couple of different ways to exercise today. First we will try to do some squats. I’ll demonstrate, and then let’s try to do 10 squats all together. Good job! Did you feel your muscles working? Can anyone show me on this picture which muscles you worked during our squats? (Point to quadriceps on picture on wall)

Let’s practice exercising another group of muscles in our bodies. Let’s do some crunches! I’ll demonstrate, and then let’s try to do 10 crunches all together. Good job! Which muscles did you feel working this time? (Pause for responses, then point to ab muscles on picture on wall). That’s right, we felt our abdominal muscles working!

Clock graphic We explored just some of the ways to work our muscles today, but there are so many more exercises we didn’t talk about. Try to find some type of exercise you enjoy and do it as often as you can! Kids your age should get 1 hour of exercise every day!

Station #8 The Bones

Key Concepts:

1. Students will learn why calcium is crucial for good bone health. 2. Students will learn about the importance of weight bearing exercise on bones 3. Students will learn how to prevent Osteoporosis

Key Outcomes: Students will be able to

1. Students will be able to name examples of calcium rich foods 2. Students will be able to name weight-bearing exercises

Student Activity: Students will put together a bone puzzle.

Station 8 – Bones Graphics Script Skeleton graphic Welcome to your next stop in the body, the bones! Here

we will learn all about building strong bones. First let’s work together to put together this bone puzzle! Can everyone help me? We also have our skeleton friend here that can help us! (Have kids assemble puzzle, when done have them sit around it). Good job! Now that we put all of these bones where they belong, we can talk about how we can build strong bones for our own bodies! Can anyone tell me why we need strong bones? Bones help our bodies move in all the ways we need. They also are very important for protecting our organs, like our brain and heart, from being injured. As you can see, it’s very important to take care of our bones our whole life!

Growing graphic Did you know that just like you, our bones are growing? They are always growing and changing, especially in young people like you!

Right now is the best time for you to help form strong bones that will last the rest of your life! Like the puzzle we built, we can build strong bones for our bodies. Does anyone know how we do this? Pause for responses (By eating the right foods and exercising!)

Calcium graphics Can anyone tell me what foods we need to eat to build strong bones in our own bodies? Pause for responses (Milk, yogurt, and cheese) Did you make sure to choose these types of foods at the market earlier? Good! We all need to make sure we have 3 servings of these foods every day! These foods contain a mineral called calcium. Without calcium, it’s impossible to have healthy bones. If you remember from the mouth station, calcium is also important for our teeth!

Osteoporosi graphic Here’s an example of what can happen if we don’t get enough calcium and exercise throughout our lives. This is a disease called osteoporosis and can happen when you get older. Bones that have osteoporosis have holes in them that make them much less strong. This means a simple fall or sometimes even a sneeze or cough can break a bone! What can we do to help us not get osteoporosis? Pause for responses That’s right, eat three servings of dairy foods each day! Like many of the stations have mentioned today, it’s important to make good decisions about our health so that our bodies can be healthy for a long time!

Station #9 The Brain

Key Concepts:

1. Students will learn about brain functions 2. Students will understand the importance of good brain health by getting sleep, exercising,

wearing a helmet, and eating healthy Key Outcomes: Students will be able to

1. Students will be able to name foods that help brain function 2. Students will be able to state habits for a healthy brain

Student Activities: Students will participate in “telephone” game that demonstrates how neurons work.

Station 9-Brain Graphics Script Brain graphic Welcome to your final stop on the Farm to You journey,

the brain! Every part of the body you’ve learned about today would not be able to function without the brain. Every blink, breath, swallow, step, and heartbeat is controlled by your brain! Our brain is even responsible for allowing us to taste all of the food we eat!

Brain communication graphic Let’s explore a little more about what our brains do. Our brains are responsible for communicating with the rest of our bodies. If you touch a hot stove, your hand sends messages that travel to your brain to alert your brain that there is pain. Your brain then sends messages through cells, called neurons, back to your hand so that the muscles in your hand can remove it from the stove. Another example is eating. As we eat a meal and our stomach gets full, our stomach sends the message to our brain and then our brain processes this information so that we stop eating. Let’s demonstrate this by playing a game of telephone. I will tell a message to one of you quietly and then that person will tell the person next to them. We will go

around the room and the last person will say what the message is. (Play a game of telephone using the phrase “Our brains are amazing!” Have the last student say what the message is, and see if it’s correct.)

Brain graphic Great job! That’s how our brain communicates with the body, except faster and it rarely messes up! These neurons that the brain uses to talk to your body can travel 200 mph. That’s three times as fast as a Cheetah can run! Our brains have BILLIONS of these neurons to communicate all of the messages it needs to throughout the day.

Healthy foods graphic

Because our brains are so important in everything we do, we should make sure we do our best to take care of our brains. One thing we can do is eat right. The brain is such an important part of the body that it uses ¼ of all of the food we eat! That means that almost one entire meal each day is used by our brain! This is why it’s so important that we fuel our brains with the best foods we can! Did anyone choose fish at the market? Fish is such a great food for our body, especially our brains. Our brains love the nutrients found in fish. Did you select fruits and vegetables at the market? Good! These also contain many vitamins and minerals that are good for our brain. How many of you ate breakfast this morning? Breakfast is very important since it’s the first meal when we wake up. Our brains need fuel first thing in the morning to help us focus and think better at school.

Sleep and exercise graphic

Another way we can help our brains stay healthy is to get enough sleep! Did you know while you sleep your brain is still working? Your brain needs this time to continue to grow. You should get 9-11 hours of sleep each day! Exercise is also a way we can take care of our brains. Exercise can actually help your brain learn and remember better!

One final thing we can do for a healthy brain is wear a helmet when we ride bikes, rollerblades, or ATV’s. Our brains are very fragile and we must make sure we do our part to protect it!

Farm to You Logo I hope you enjoyed your time at Farm to You today! Try to practice all of the new things you learned today and share what you learned with your parents, grandparents, and friends!