Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

5 minutes – Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge
10 minutes – Part B: The Sneaky Sugar Cube
25 minutes – Part C: Hidden Sugar
5 minutes – Reflection

Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge

Step 1.

Ask students to list some foods that have sugar in them. Suggestions might include lollies and cake, but many cereals also have sugar in them, and so does fruit - that's why it tastes yummy and sweet.

Step 2.

Show students a teaspoon measurement. Ask students to guess how many teaspoons of sugar they eat every day. This might be a hard concept for younger students as they don't go around eating teaspoons of raw sugar at a time! But explain that sugar is hidden in lots of foods.

Part B: The Sneaky Sugar Cube

Step 1.

Read the story The Sneaky Sugar Cube.

Healthy Stories For Kids - Sneaky Sugar Cube - Hidden Sugar In Foods (https://youtu.be/7pxU61XbEhg)

Step 2.

Discuss with students their thoughts on the book. Prompt their thinking with questions such as:

What's one thing you liked about this story?
What's one thing you learned from this story?
What's one thing you're still wondering after reading this story?

Part C: Hidden Sugar

Step 1.

Remind students of how the sneaky sugar cube could hide in many different foods. Ask students how much sugar does a glass of water contain? None is the answer, and this makes it a healthier drink than soft drink because it doesn't harm our teeth.

Ask students to make a hypothesis of how many teaspoons of sugar they think could hide in a glass of water?

Step 2.

Explain that you are now going to conduct an experiment to see how much sugar can dissolve in a glass of water. Dissolve means to disappear completely.

Step 3.

Start by mixing one teaspoon of sugar into a glass of water. Mix well until there are no visible crystals.

Step 4.

Ask students to observe the glass. When students agree that all the sugar has dissolved, add another teaspoon.

Step 5.

In a small cup of water (approximately 200ml) it is possible to dissolve about 20 teaspoons of sugar (80 grams)! It may take a couple of minutes of constant stirring to make the sugar dissolve fully.

Step 6.

Explain that lots of foods contain sugar. It doesn't have to be in its natural form - we can be eating hidden sugar without even knowing it.

Step 7.

Explain that the World Health Organisation recommends we only eat 6 teaspoons (or about 24 grams) of sugar every day.

Step 8.

Ask students to help you count out six teaspoons of sugar onto a plate. Ask students if it looks like a lot, or not much?

Step 9.

Explain to students that a can of soft drink has about 39 grams of sugar. For older students, you can demonstrate how to find this on the can's nutrition label.

Step 10.

Ask students to help you count out teaspoons of sugar until the scales read about 39 grams. This is about 10 teaspoons. Compare this to your original pile of sugar. Is it bigger or smaller?

Step 11.

Help students make the connection that by drinking just one can of soft drink, we have already had way more sugar in one day than is healthy! Not to mention all the other things we might eat that contain sugar!

Step 12.

Using a few other food items, find the amount of sugar on the label and count that many teaspoons onto the scale. Older students might be able to help with handling and weighing the sugar.

Some food items might have less than six teaspoons, and it's okay to talk about how these food options are better for our teeth.

Older students might make the connection that the sugar amount listed on the label is for the whole amount of the product. Ask them if they would drink a whole bottle of orange juice in one go? You would probably only have one glass at a time. Explain to students that it's all about managing how much sugar we consume per day.

Reflection

Give students a chance to find the sugar content on the nutrition labels of a variety of food packages. Make a list of foods that have more or less than the recommended daily amount of sugar.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching practice today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

SugarByHalf - Guardians of the Gums - Hidden Sugar

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