Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune in: A close look at sugar

20 minutes

Find out: Lunchbox investigation

15 minutes

Take action: A sugar message

5 minutes

Reflection

Tune in: A close look at sugar

Step 1.

Begin by displaying the Time to Rethink Sugary Drink? Poster. Explain that it has been produced by a group of health-related organisations who are concerned about the amount of sugar we consume through our sugary drinks.

Pose the following questions and invite students to respond through class discussion:

What information in this poster is new to you?
What information is most surprising, interesting or important to you?
What questions do you have about this poster?

Step 2. Explain:

We all probably hear lots of messages about how we should be eating less sugar, and there is a good reason for this: sugar impacts our health in many ways, including harming our teeth and our bodies. But it’s actually really hard to avoid; the companies that produce many of the foods that we eat sneak sugar into our foods because they think it makes them taste better, and they think that the better it tastes, the more we’ll buy. And then they give the sugar different names that make us think that the sweet stuff in our foods isn’t harmful.

Step 3.

Share this infographic that shows some other names and types of sugar.

Discuss the infographic with students and pose the following question: how many types of sugar can you count?

Step 4. Explain:

Some people argue that some sugars are better for you than others because they are natural or organic. All sugars come from natural sources and all sugars affect our bodies and our teeth in the same way. In your mouth, there are bacteria. When you consume sugar, the bacteria in your mouth turn this sugar into acid, and this acid can lead to decay. The more sugar you consume, the higher the risk of decay and cavities in your teeth. Other oral hygiene practices - like brushing with toothpaste twice a day, flossing daily and drinking lots of water - will help to reduce the risk of tooth decay.

Find out: Lunchbox investigation

Step 1.

Explain that sugars aren’t just consumed through our drinks. Many foods in our lunchboxes contain sugar, even when we don’t expect it.

Distribute a copy of the Lunchbox Snacks Worksheet to each student. Students will work in pairs to look at the typical lunchbox foods in these pictures and guess whether they contain sugar, recording their guesses on the Student Worksheet.

Step 2.

Students then regroup and share their answers. Use the Lunchbox Snacks Answer Sheet to confirm or clarify student guesses.

Pose the questions:

Which items on the Student Worksheet were you most surprised to learn contained sugar?
What made you think these items might be healthy or not contain much sugar? Is there anything about how these items are marketed that makes you think they might be healthy?

Step 3.

Share the food wrappers that you collected earlier. Work together or in groups/pairs to:

examine the sugar content of each product (students may need a little guidance here to identify the gram content of each product - you could convert these to percentages)
analyse how the product is advertised - what kind of words are used to describe the item? Do these words make you think this product is healthy?
suggest alternative and more accurate terms for the marketing of this product (such as ‘this is a treat’).

Extension

You could convert the amount of sugar in each product into teaspoons based on the assumption that a rounded teaspoon of sugar is equivalent to 5 grams.

Step 4.

Explain that understanding how much sugar is in our foods is an important part of making healthy choices. One of the consequences of eating foods and drinks with a lot of sugar is the damage this sugar can do to our teeth.

Distribute the Oral Health fact sheet and invite students to read it through.

Once complete, invite students to share any observations they made about teeth and our diets.

Take action: A sugar message

Step 1.

Students will now create a poster or infographic focusing on three or more common lunchbox items (you can adjust the number of items according to the time available and ability of students). The poster/infographic needs to be aimed at students younger than themselves.

The poster or infographic could include:

details of the sugar content for the items being examined
how this sugar might affect our teeth (this factsheet might help)
healthier alternatives to these items.

Step 2.

Students could share their posters with students from a younger year level. Explain to students that the aim is not to shame students into changing what is in their lunchboxes but rather to inform them that there are alternatives that result in healthier teeth. Their posters should inform students that making healthier food choices with regular brushing, flossing, and dental visits are the best ways we can look after our teeth.

Extension

Students could prepare a series of presentation note cards to help them define what they want to say to their audience. These could be used in the presentation practice sessions and the final delivery of the presentation.

Reflection

Invite students to reflect on their learning using the following:

I used to think…
Now I think…

Differentiated Learning

We trust that teachers are the best equipped to know how to cater to the diversity in their classes. At Cool.org, we incorporate a variety of differentiation strategies into each lesson. Firstly, each lesson in this unit appeals to an array of different learning preferences. Learning activities can be completed in a number of different ways - if a student feels more comfortable speaking rather than writing, there are opportunities to accommodate this. In lessons that feature group work or learning stations, we trust that teachers will use their discretion in knowing how to best organise their students in accordance to positive working relationships and ability. Graphic organisers and scaffolds are often included so students can ‘visually think’ and keep a record of their work. While our lessons are designed to be 55 - 60 minutes in length, we trust that teachers will manipulate lesson and segment times according to the needs of their students.

Smile Squad - Sugar and Preventative Oral Health

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