National Nutrition Month: Best Web Resources for Teachers

Along with Women's History Month, March is also National Nutrition Month. If you're planning on incorporating nutrition, we've compiled a few of our favorite resources here. You'll find lesson plans that cover the science of cooking and digestion, as well as links to a variety of helpful source materials on the Web.

Of course, we just touched on a few, but we'd love to hear if you have plans for incorporating National Nutrition Month into your lesson plans. What resources are you planning to use?

• The Best Sites For Learning about Nutrition and Food Safety: Blogger and educator Larry Ferlazzo put together this list of nutrition resources on his website. There are links to tons of great interactive multimedia pieces, as well as links for all ages of learners. Ferlazzo's website is a great place for finding open educational resources, as it's chock full of useful "Best Of" lists.
• The Science of Cooking from the San Francisco Exploratorium: Have you ever wondered what the science was behind our favorite foods? Well these lessons will answer your curiosities. There are teaching ideas for covering the science behind bread, pickles, candy, and many more. There are also several recorded webcasts that can be used during lessons.
• Nutrition Science Lessons from Science NetLinks: This three-part lesson series from Science NetLinks looks at healthy eating, the science of our digestive systems, and how our bodies absorb nutrients. The lesson plans cover preparation for teachers and provide materials, and there is also a section in each lesson that provides ideas for assessment.
• 14 Nutrition Sites for Kids from Ed Tech Ideas: Geared toward younger learners, this post features some of the best nutrition education resources on the Web. Author Keith Ferrell also highlights some of the best bits from each resource, providing links to educators' sections, suggested age levels, and other useful information.
• California Project LEAN Nutrition Education Resources: Although these eight lesson plans were produced in 2007, they’re still extremely relevant. Each is available as a PDF download, and they cover a variety of subjects, from math and science to media literacy and physical fitness.
• SuperKids Nutrition Curriculum for National Nutrition Month: SuperKids Nutrition produced this nutrition curriculum that features links to relevant articles, interactive multimedia pieces, and other online resources to get students thinking about the food they eat. Along with the thorough curriculum, there’s also an activities pages with a number of free printables and ideas for elementary school and middle school students.
• Healthy Eating Resources for Kids from Nourish Interactive: Teachers and kids will find plenty of great resources from Nourish Interactive in the “Free Printables” tab, where there are great ideas and materials for teaching students about food labels, healthy cooking, gardening, and vitamins.
• EatFit Resources for High School and Middle School: Produced by the University of California, Davis, this resource is perfect for students in middle school and high school. Featuring games, an eating analysis section, outside links, and a number of other helpful and healthful ideas, there’s plenty here to keep students engaged and learning about healthy eating.