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Lesson plan · Grades 3-5 · 45 minutes

Label Detective

I can read a Nutrition Facts label and use the serving size and the 5/20 rule to compare two foods for a health goal.

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Standard
NHES.S2 NHES-2024
NHES.S5 NHES-2024
Shape
Teach, then practice
Grouping
Whole class for the teach, then pairs on devices.
You need
The tool on the projector and on student devices. Optional: two or three real food packages with labels.
Tool
curioclass.org/tools/label-detective/
  1. Hook5 min
  2. Teach10 min
  3. Practice15 min
  4. Apply10 min
  5. Exit check5 min

Before class

  • Open Read a label with the potato chips label up.
  • Bring a few real packages if you can (cereal, crackers, a drink).
  • Keep the talk about reading and comparing, not "good food" and "bad food". Students eat what their families buy.

Hook 5 min

  1. Hold up a bag of chips, real or on screen. "How many calories are in this bag?" Take guesses.
  2. "Food packages tell you a lot, but only if you know how to read them. Today you become label detectives."

Teach 10 min

  1. On the chips label, tap Serving size, then Servings per container. "Who eats just 15 chips?"
  2. Press 3 servings (whole bag). The label grows a yellow column: 480 calories and 510 mg of sodium. "Why does serving size sit at the very top?"
  3. Press Show the 5/20 rule: 5% DV or less is low, 20% or more is high. Practice reading three lines with the class.
  4. Name what to get less of (saturated fat, sodium, added sugars) and more of (fiber, vitamin D, calcium, iron, potassium).

Practice 15 min

  1. Pairs open Cases and solve them in order. For each, they pick an answer and then tap the label line that proves it.
  2. After three cases, stop for Sugar spotter. The class guesses the teaspoons of sugar in a drink, then watches the cubes drop. "What do the white cubes mean? The blue ones?" (Added sugar; natural sugar from fruit or milk.)
  3. Pairs go back to Cases and try for three stars: the right answer and the right clue on the first try.

Apply 10 min

  1. Open Compare and pick the goal "less added sugar". Compare the apple juice and the fruit drink. "They have about the same total sugar. Why is one better?" (The juice's sugar is natural; the drink's is added.)
  2. If serving sizes differ, a warning appears. Press Compare whole packages and see what changes.
  3. "No snack wins every line. How do you decide which line matters most?" (It depends on your goal.)
  4. If you brought real packages, pairs use the 5/20 rule on one.

Exit check 5 min

On a card: "A snack has 25% DV sodium. Is that high or low? A serving is 1 cup, and the package has 3 servings. You eat the whole package. How much sodium is that?" (High; 75% DV.) Cards that miss the serving math show who needs the chips label again.

Support and stretch

  • Support: work one case together on the projector before pairs start.
  • Support: keep the 5/20 rule on the board with LOW and HIGH in big letters.
  • Stretch: "Plain Greek yogurt has 0 g added sugar but 4 g of sugar. Where does that sugar come from?" (The milk.)
  • Stretch: find a real label at home, use the 5/20 rule on it, and bring back one surprise.

Short on time

  • Teach serving size and the 5/20 rule on the chips label (8 min).
  • Solve two Cases together (7 min), then the exit card (5 min).

How each button works is in the teacher notes. From Curio Class, free under CC BY 4.0: change it, print it, share it.