Stage 5 GGC Project: Rainbow Plates– 1 pt

OVERVIEW: This challenge is designed to help your students understand the importance of including foods of every color in their diet, especially fruits and vegetables. By eating a Rainbow Diet, students will get the full variety of nutrients they need to support healthy minds and bodies. In this challenge, your students will take the Rainbow Plate worksheet (see below) and keep track of all the healthy, colorful foods they eat.

This project is ideal to launch during Green Week, April 24th-28th, although it may be completed any time during the Gardens and Earth Day Challenge.

In the attached information packet, you will find plenty of resources to help you educate your students about nutrients that accompany different colored foods. Please feel free to use these resources in any way that works best for you and your students. Some of your students may be able to document foods of every color- that is great! Some of your students may only be able to fill in a few color wedges- that is ok too! Everyone’s participation is welcome and encouraged.

CRITERIA1. Promote! – Let your whole school know that the Rainbow Plate Challenge will be

held over the course of one week – we suggest holding it during Green Week, April 24th-28th.

a) Extension activity: Poster campaign (Grades 3-12)

Have your students design posters or flyers to inform their classmates and teachers that your school is participating in the Rainbow Plate Challenge. The more students who participate, the better your chances for winning one of the top prizes!

Place posters around the school and let students know where they can pick up their “plate.” Have some plates printed and ready to hand out in the office or in your classroom! When students or teachers pick up their plates, make sure to also let them know where to return them at the end of the week.

b) Extension activity: Harvest from your garden (Grades K-12)

If you’re participating in the Rainbow Plates Challenge toward the end of the school year, you may be lucky enough to include some produce from your school garden in the activity! Help promote the challenge an encourage local eating by harvesting produce from your garden and preparing some fresh snacks to offer when students pick up their ‘plates.’ Display photos of your garden to show students what the vegetables look like as plants!

2. Pass out the ‘plate’! – Every student should get a print out of the Rainbow Plate and List of Rainbow Foods so that they can keep track of the healthy rainbow foods they are eating for the week. Every time they eat a rainbow food they should write the name of the food on the matching color wedge on the Rainbow Plate.

a) Extension activity: Felt Rainbow Salad Bowl (Grades 3-6)Not all nutrition comes on a plate- some comes in a bowl! Instead of a rainbow plate, try making a Felt Rainbow Salad Bowl with your students. Have students cut fruits and vegetables out of colorful pieces of felt that represent foods from each of the rainbow colors on their plates. Assemble the different rainbow foods on a felt cutout of a salad bowl. Have each student share what is in their salad bowl and how the nutrients in each fruit or vegetable help keep them healthy! Post the Rainbow Salad Bowls in your classroom or in the school’s cafeteria as a reminder that salads are a great way to pack a lot of nutrition into one meal!

b) Extension activity: Rainbow Smoothies (Grades K-12) A great way to incorporate rainbow foods into your diet is through a Rainbow Smoothie. Follow the recipe in the Rainbow Plates activity or create your own with your students! If your school has received award money from the Go Green Challenge, you can use that to purchase smoothie ingredients in a variety of colors. If you don’t have access to measuring cups and blenders, they can be rented from the Detroit School Garden Collaborative’s Resource Center at Drew Transition Center. Please contact Monica Degarmo (mailto:monica.degarmo@detroitk12.org) or your school’s DSGC Lead Teacher for more information on rentals.

3. Talk about rainbow eating! – Some students may not know why colorful healthy foods are important. Others may think that a bag of skittles will fulfill their rainbow diet. That is ok and exactly why we do this - we have provided guidelines, examples of healthy and unhealthy foods, lessons, and more for you to use at your discretion.

a) Extension Activity: Head, Shoulders, Knees and… Nutrition! (Grades K-4)Different colors in fruits and vegetables represent different nutrients that provide benefits to certain parts of our bodies. Play this fun game developed by a FoodCorps member from the Detroit School Garden Collaborative to visually explore different nutrients with your class.

4. Remind, remind, remind! – We understand that we are asking a lot of our students to keep track of what they are eating for a whole week. Reminders will be a big help.

a) Extension Activity: School Announcements (Grades K-12)

Help students at your school to remember to complete their Rainbow Plates Challenge by making daily announcements. Announcements could include a fun fact about one of the rainbow plate colors or could give tips on what foods to eat to get all of your colors in!

5. Count the students that participated – Once you have collected all the plates, consider posting them in the cafeteria or hallway. Fill out the attached questionnaire with the following information:

a) The number of students who participated in the challengeb) Any interesting conversations or findings that came out of the challenge.

What new foods did students try eating? What were the hardest colors for them to eat?

c) Photos of highlights from the challenge

6. TAKE IT HOME!

Record some of the ways that your students are incorporating a colorful variety of foods into their diet by creating a classroom cookbook. Have students work with their parents or caregivers to come up with a recipe that includes at least one of the rainbow plate colors. Organize the recipes that students submit into a ‘cookbook’ that can serve as a classroom resource or be printed as a fun prize for students to take home and share with their families!

EVIDENCE

In order to earn one point for the Rainbow Plates activity, you must submit the Rainbow Plates Questionnaire and 2 photos of your school participating in the activity to Credly.

CREDLY CODE

Use this code to claim your credit on Credly: GGCRainbow

Rainbow Plates Questionnaire

Please use this questionnaire to document your school’s participation in the Rainbow Plates activity. You will submit this questionnaire to Credly to earn 1 point for your team.

School Name: ______________________________________________________________________________________

Dates of the Rainbow Plates Challenge: _________________________________________________________

1.) How many students at your school participated in the Rainbow Plates Activity Challenge over the course of one week?

2.) What were the results of your challenge? Were there any interesting conversations or findings?

3.) What new foods did students try eating? What were the hardest colors for them to eat?