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Context

Barbados is a sovereign island country covering 432 km2 (167 m2) in the
Lesser Antilles, in the Americas. The educational system in Barbados is
modelled after the British system and is funded by the government up to and
including tertiary level.
The age of compulsory education is from 4 - 16 years which spans both
primary and secondary school. Students can choose to remain at school until
age 18 if accepted by the schools administration.
One of the main challenges facing students and the population of Barbados
is that of obesity and the high incidence of chronic non-communicable
diseases.
There has been much discussion over the ready availability of unhealthy
foods within school at the schools canteens/cafeterias and immediately
outside school from itinerant vendors.
One of the most unhealthy foods identified is sugar-sweetened carbonated
beverages/drinks also referred to as soft drinks, sweet drinks or sodas
because of their high sugar content.
The abundance and easy access to soft drinks around Barbadian schools
has caused great concern and led to many comments being made by officials
in education and health but to date nothing has been done. As recent as
March 25th, 2017, the Minister of Health, John Boyce, has considered the
banning of these drinks in Barbadian schools, while the Healthy Caribbean
Coalition has urged government to implement a policy of sweet drinks in
schools, however, no regulation or law has been enacted.

The Project (4 weeks)


Given the contextual background, I am proposing a cross-curriculum
educational project named the Healthy Calories Advocate (HCA).

Audience
Secondary school students (11-18 yrs)

Goals of Project
The goal of the HCA project is to change the dietary behavior and habits of
students by ensuring students take greater responsibility for their health by
reducing their sugar-intake from the consumption of sweet drinks.
Instructional Strategies Employed
- Project based learning
- Cooperative learning

Objectives
The objectives of the HCA project uses the Revised Taxonomy of Bloom and focuses
on the cognitive and affective domains.

- Understand the effect of sugar on the human body (cognitive:


understanding)
- Contribute to a reference resource on calories from sugar-sweetened
drinks/beverages (cognitive: applying)
- Create a digital artifact that raises students awareness in Barbados of the
ill effects on health caused by the consumption of too much sugar from
sugar-sweetened drinks/beverages (cognitive: analysis)
- Adopt a healthier diet by reducing sugar consumption from sugar-
sweetened drinks/beverages (affective: valuing)
- Work collaboratively to earn rewards from reducing calories from sugar-
sweetened drinks/beverages (affective: valuing)
- Appreciate the importance of diet and exercise towards quality of life
(affective: valuing)

Processes/Activities/Storyboard
1. Students research the effects of sugar on the body.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFlnlGx0B5U
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/sugary-drinks-fact-sheet/
https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/data-statistics/sugar-sweetened-beverages-
intake.html
http://www.kickthecan.info/fast-facts
2. The teacher from the Physical Education department demonstrates how to
calculate body mass index (bmi) and suggests the calorie intake for students
based on bmi.
3. The teacher from the Physical Education department or the Food & Nutrition
department shows students how to read food labels particularly labels on
popular soft drinks consumed by students and how to calculate sugar
content and calories for specific amounts (for example 100ml). Students will
also be taught the differences between good and bad nutrition.
4. Students contribute to a shared resource space which contains a list of the
sweet drinks, the calories and sugar content contained within these drinks.
The resource can be accessed HERE at:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1I6La97z_FhWdPmOrKep2RM__VBID
MvnC_f__iEMMrXc/edit?usp=sharing
Other useful resources for reference:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/calorie-chart-nutrition-facts
http://www.sugarstacks.com/beverages.htm
http://www.calories.info/food/soda-soft-drinks
5. Students re-familiarize themselves with the concept of Digital Citizenship and
commit to Digital Etiquette (Element/Theme #5 of Digital Citizenship) and not
to share personal information obtained in the HCA project to others.
Commitment: I pledge to respect myself, others and their privacy on the
Internet.
6. Students will be assigned monikers and placed in groups at random.
Students will be required to update a table daily for 3 weeks which shows the
number of calories consumed from soft drinks.
Students will also share evidence of calories used through physical activity.
This information can be shared from wearable technology such as a Fitbit, S
Health app on a smart phone or tablet computer or a calculation of
approximate calories lost multiplied by exercise duration.
An example of this information can be seen HERE .
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B415hy-eD_zXbFJibjR2RWtfUGc
The number of calories used through physical activity would be entered into
spreadsheet HERE .
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1I6La97z_FhWdPmOrKep2RM__VBID
MvnC_f__iEMMrXc/edit#gid=186174411
7. Students receive a school-issued reward badge from Open Badges if there is
a 50% or more reduction in total group calories from Week 1 to Week 3 or if
the group calories total from sugar-sweetened beverages/drinks is zero.
8. Students work in groups to create a digital artifact that promotes reducing
consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages/drinks. Video, infographic,
podcast, poster etc
Rubric is HERE.
A learning path for these activities has been created on Symbaloo.
Assessment
Rubric for Digital Artifact
Category Excellent Good Fair Inadequat
(8-9 pts) (5-7 pts) (2-4 pts) e
(0-1 pts)
Ideas/Communi Ideas are Most ideas Some ideas It is very
cation expressed in are clear are clear difficult to
a clear and and and understand
organized organized. It organized. the
manner. It is is clear to There are connection
easy to figure out some to soft drink
figure out how the challenged consumptio
how the artifact in figuring n.
artifact connects to out how the
connects to reducing artifact
the reducing soft drink connects to
soft drink consumptio reducing
consumption n soft drink
consumptio
n.
Clarity & All parts of Most parts Some parts Few parts
Relevance the digital of the digital of the of the
artifact are artifact are digital digital
related and related artifact are artifact are
make it easy related. related.
to
understand
Originality/Crea Exceptionall Most Some Little effort
tivity y creative original original is
and original ideas are ideas are noticeable.
used. used.
Adequate Moderate
amount of amount of
effort is effort.
noticeable.
Alignment of HCA project
TiM Alignment
Active
Students are actively engaged in using technology as a tool to record
calories using wearable technology or other smart devices and to contribute
to a shared resource on calorific value of sugar-sweetened
beverages/drinks.
Collaborative
Students in the HCA project collaborate with each other in several ways via
the use of technology. Not only do they contribute to a shared resource
space but they also work in groups towards reducing their calories from
sugar-sweetened beverages.
They also create a multimedia artifact to promote awareness amongst
students on reducing sugar consumption from sugar-sweetened beverages.
Constructive
Students in the HCA project use technology resources to create a digital
artifact which allows them to connect new information they have learnt
about calories from sugar to the artifact they are expected to produce.
Authentic
Students are gathering data and information based on their individual habits
as it relates to diet and exercise.
Since they are immersed in this learning experience in a real way, the HCA
project is authentic. There is a clear link between what they are doing and
how it extends beyond the classroom to quality of life which is emphasized.
The HCA project is aimed at the individual student making better choices in
diet by reducing consumption of sweetened drinks.
Goal directed
Students are expected to share their physical activity in their journal as
evidence of calories used. Technology acts as an efficient and convenient
tool since many apps and wearable devices allow this information to be
easily shared. The goal in the project is to reduce sugar intake and the HCA
project spreadsheet provides this information.

ISTE standards alignment


Creativity and Innovation
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop
innovative products and processes using technology.
Students demonstrate creative thinking and knowledge construction in the creation
of a collaborative digital artifact promoting a reduction in sugar consumption from
sweetened beverages.

Communication and collaboration


Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work
collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute
to the learning of others.
The HCA project requires students to work in group to achieve virtual badges if they
have attained a reduction of 50% or more in calories from sweetened drinks.

Research and information literacy


Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.
Students contribute to a reference resource on the sugar and calories on the drinks
consumed around school. They use this information to update the reference
resource.

Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making


Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects,
solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and
resources.
The HCA project features a real problem as outlined in the background context.
Students work as individuals to reduce total calories and thereby reducing the total
group calories from sweetened beverages and goes to the wider community via a
digital artifact.

Digital citizenship
Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and
practice legal and ethical behavior.
The HCA project requires students to commit to upholding Element/Theme #5 of
Digital Citizenship (Digital Etiquette) by not sharing data and information of others
and respecting others privacy. This is

Technology operations and concepts


Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and
operations.
Students are required to use one of the newer forms of technological devices
wearable devices as activity trackers. Students are expected to share the results of
calories used from physical activity with the group as evidence.

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