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(You can listen to all or part of the program, scroll through the related Activities sections below, or click on a Program Title link to view the complete Science Friday Kids' Connection page for that program.)
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Chocolate’s phat! Get the skinny on the many possible health benefits of cocoa and chocolate at WebMD Health Search - Cocoa. Ingredients in dark chocolate may help diarrhea, relieve coughs, and repair smokers’ blood vessels. Who needs vitamins!
Oh, fudge! Is it Good for You?, asks the New York Times Learning Network. Students study flavanols and cocoa in depth and compare a new “healthy” chocolate product from Mars Company with other snack foods that claim to be healthy.
A truffling matter. Chocolate: The Exhibition from the Field Museum explores the history of chocolate, its global distribution, and its importance as an economic factor. You’ll learn how cacao is grown and harvested, meet the Aztecs and Mayans, who valued cacao as much as gold, study chocolate facts and fiction, and see how different kinds of chocolate are made. Harvest and process a virtual cacao crop, then make your own candy bars at a virtual chocolate factory. Take the chocolate challenge, solve a crossword puzzle, and try out some delicious recipes.
Chocolate fun-due. You can find links to more fun chocolate sites at One Sweet World: On the Trail of Chocolate. The Worldwide Gourmet, for example, has a fascinating history of chocolate. Did you know that chocolate has different flavors depending on where the beans are grown? Munch on nuggets of information about the great chocolatiers of the world and try your hand at some mouth-watering, gourmet recipes.
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RealAudio archive courtesy of NPR Online. If nothing happens when you click the link, you may need to download a free player.
Circle of life. Newspapers in Education takes you on life’s journey in Aging Well, a tour of two excellent Web sites. First stop, England’s Science Museum for a discussion of life at the cellular level from infancy to old age.These terrific pages speak directly to kids about aging in sections on the body, mind, society, and longevity. There are lots of fun games and other activities. TheNever Say Die Guide from PBS is a teacher’s activity and resource guide for the Scientific American Frontiers episode of the same name. Online video segments examine a number of interesting topics in aging, including diet, mental acitivity, genes, and organ transplant and repair. Negative terms get in your face on the LinkAge 2000 home page; enter this well-done, interactive Thinkquest site for an exploration of medical and social issues of getting old. Surveys, stories, interviews, games, and a teacher’s page make for a stand-out experience.
If the genes fit, wear ‘em. Genetics of Aging, from Riverdeep, studies the role of genes in long life and aging. PBS Springboard: The Age of Aging looks at the effects of genetics vs. lifestyle in how we age. Research into anti-aging genes and calorie-restricted diets is presented at PBS Online NewsHour: Science of Aging, and Alan Alda discovers what humans and nematodes have in common at Genes for Youth, part of Scientific American Frontiers “Gene Hunters.” You’ll find an accompanying activity in the teacher’s guide.
Old is just a state of mind. At Neuroscience Resources for Kids: The Nervous System in Old Age, the physical effects of aging on the brain and the systems it controls are examined. The Key to Keeping Your Brain Fit and More Good News for Aging Brains: Neurogenesis at the same site cover facts about smoking and alcohol and brain research respectively. Neuroscience for Kids: Memory and Learning contains myriad memory games. Don't Forget (PBS Scientific American Frontiers) explores memories, remembering, and keeping the brain young. Memory tests, puzzles, and quizzes in the teacher’s guide add to the fun. The Aging Brain (PBS “Secret Life of the Brain: Episode 5) presents the amazing fact that our brains continue to produce new neurons even as we age. You’ll meet a 95-year-old poet laureate, and learn more about Alzheimer’s effects.
Old as the hills. Did you know that there are 40,000 centenarians (people 100 years and older) in the U.S.? Wow! Learn more about what a entenarian is and meet some of them at the New England Centenarian Study. You and your family members can estimate your longevity odds with the Healthspan Calculator. Many plants and animals live far longer than humans (desert tortoises, Sequoia trees). Research and prepare presentations about them.
For more information and resources on aging, visit Science Friday Kids’ Connection Healthy Aging (March 7, 2003, Hour One)
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RealAudio archive courtesy of NPR Online. If nothing happens when you click the link, you may need to download a free player.
It’s a no-brainer. An excellent place to start studying mad cow disease is PBS’s NOVA Online: The Brain Eater, an episode originally aired in 1998 following the outbreak of the disease in England. It includes a debate about the origins of the disease. The Teacher’s Guide provides a program overview, discussion topics, and an activity on developing public health strategies. The Resources page has links to a variety of sites about the disease itself, prions, and food safety. One such link, What the Heck is Mad Cow Disease?, gives straightforward and thorough information about the subject without a lot of scientific jargon.
Spying on prions. Mad Cow Disease offers basic information and an illustration of normal and abnormal prions. The really ambitious can download a free 3-D viewer program to examine and manipulate prions in three dimensions at the Prion Picture Gallery (Mad-cow.org). You can also look at them in their “flat” form.
Holy cow! Several lesson plans on mad cow disease are available on the Internet.
Eat it. Food Risks: Perception vs. Reality (FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition) is a lesson plan with thoughtful discussion questions and projects. The Center’s Consumer Advice page answers dozens of frequently asked questions about food-borne illnesses.
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RealAudio archive courtesy of NPR Online. If nothing happens when you click the link, you may need to download a free player.
The old gray mare, she ain’t what she used to be. There are several good sites about aging geared toward students. PBS broadcast a television show about aging called “Stealing Time.” The main site is for adults and very text heavy, but the Stealing Time: Teaching Resources section is excellent. Complete lesson plans are given containing thought-provoking activities and discussion questions. Lesson 1, How Do We Live Forever?, focuses on what it means in social terms to live a long time; Eating Forever discusses diet; and "Actively" Aging covers the importance of physical activity.
How old is old? Science NetLinks also provides a good lesson plan and interesting topics about the field of gerontology at The Science of Aging and How Scientists Study Aging.
Mind over matter. At Neuroscience Resources for Kids: The Nervous System in Old Age, the physical effects of aging on the brain and the systems it controls are examined. The Key to Keeping Your Brain Fit and More Good News for Aging Brains: Neurogenesis at the same site cover facts about smoking and alcohol and brain research respectively. Neuroscience for Kids: Memory and Learning contains myriad memory games.
Think it over. The Thinking Web Page, a ThinkQuest project, reiterates the importance of thinking in keeping the brain healthy. Logic problems help students become critical thinkers.
Exercise the little gray cells. Kids stay sharp and hone their minds with all sorts of brain teasers. Three good sites for tickling the brain are BrainConnection.com’s The Brain and Learning: Brain Teasers, National Institute of Environmental Health Science’s Kids Page Brainteasers, Puzzles, and Riddles, and Flooble.com’s Logic Puzzles, Brainteasers, Riddles, and Math Tricks.
Walk a mile in their moccasins. Arrange a visit to a nursing home. Contact the facility’s activity director to ask how students can interact with the residents (reading, playing games, art projects, etc.)
When I was your age… Have students interview a senior relative or friend to discover the person’s feelings about aging. Here are some questions the students might ask. What has the person done to stay healthy and active? What changes has he or she experienced? Does the person consider him- or herself old? Etc.
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RealAudio archive courtesy of NPR Online. If nothing happens when you click the link, you may need to download a free player.
Here is a link to graphics of the current food guide pyramid and Walter Willet’s Healthy Eating Pyramid, as discussed on the show.
Peas and Q’s. For an explanation and graphics of the current food pyramid guide, go to The Food Guide Pyramid at KidsHealth.
Food for thought. For a different angle on healthy eating, kids should visit The Human Brain Nutrition and the Brain-Food Pyramid at the Franklin Institute Online. It’s heavy on text and light on graphics and interaction, but it’s really interesting to learn how different components of food directly affect brain health and function. Try constructing a map of the brain that places components in the areas they affect.
You are what you eat. Have students evaluate their diets at the Pacific Science Center’s Nutrition Café, where they enter the food they may typically eat in a day and receive personalized nutrition reports.
Turn over a new leaf. NPR’s Is the Food Pyramid Obsolete? elucidates the suggested changes to the pyramid and the scientific reasoning behind them. After studying the revised pyramid, have students return to Nutrition Café and design a diet that incorporates the changes. These can be compared to their previous nutrition reports.
Draw! Based on what they’ve learned about the revised recommendations, divide the class into groups and ask the groups to design a better food guide. They can use a shape, a chart, or whatever they think would be more effective than a pyramid.
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RealAudio archive courtesy of NPR Online. If nothing happens when you click the link, you may need to download a free player.
The Un(healthy) Cola. The link between child obesity and Type II diabetes is well-summarized in Obesity Among Children. The author also details how schools and parents contribute to the problem and what they can do to alleviate it. Sickly Sweets: Diabetes Threatens Sugar-Addicted Teens points out that many schools are guilty because they allow snack and soda machines on campus as a fund-raising gimmick, making it difficult for teens to resist eating unhealthy foods. Invite a nutritionist to talk to the class about the dangers of diabetes and being overweight. A diabetic student may also be willing to do a presentation on diabetes and how it is controlled.
I’m not fat, I’m just big-boned!Students can test their knowledge of obesity by taking the Obesity Quiz.
You are what you eat. The food industry has been accused of contributing to child obesity by placing profit before health. Have students watch a few hours of Saturday morning television and track the food ads. Have them record the number of ads and types of food being advertised, then accompany their parents to the supermarket and look up the nutritional statistics on those foods. They can visit fast-food restaurants and ask for nutrition charts (Burger King displays them in every outlet).
Mind over matter. Try a two-week experiment in willpower. Week one: Students keep a journal of everything they eat, recording calories, fat grams, fiber grams, protein, sugar, carbohydrates, etc. Honesty counts! Compare the results to an ideal diet that follows the food-group guidelines to see what improvements can be made. Week two: Students cut non-nutritious foods from their diets, replacing them with healthy foods. Again, honesty counts! Lead a discussion about the difficulties of resisting favorite foods and media bombardment.
Slug or slugger. Physical activity is essential for maintaining a healthy body. Aside from organized team sports, does your school have a physical education program? Is it as effective as it could be? Have students keep records of their physical activity for one week to see if they are exercising adequately or if they need to increase it. Students can find out by consulting the calorie chart How Many Calories Am I Burning When I Exercise?, which lists common sports and activities. Just for fun, visit The Guide to Calorie-Burning Activities to see how many calories dragging your feet, swallowing your pride, and climbing the walls can burn.