Slow or fast sugars, water or juice? Our athletic performance and our health depend on our food choices!
Your students find out for themselves by taking part in a real research experiment where they are the test subjects!
We measure how hydration and different sugars affect their athletic performance, and you receive a table of their results for each experiment.
An excellent way to see the impact of our eating habits!
How it runs:
Both workshops take place in the school gym and can be spread over 2 weeks or 2 physical education classes.
The food for the carbohydrate test is delivered at the liquids test.
1) Visit 1: The liquids test (60 or 75 minutes):
Four groups with different levels of hydration (ozonated natural spring water, a sports drink with 21 grams of sugar, a low-calorie sports drink, no drink at all). Which group will do best in our shuttle-run challenges?
2) Visit 2: The complex carbohydrate (slow sugar) test (60 or 75 minutes):
Two groups are formed. The control group eats as usual or, with the parents’ consent, eats non-diet food (pizza, hamburgers). The test group eats meals rich in complex carbohydrates, better known as slow sugars (supplied by Profaqua: a pasta dinner the night before, an oatmeal breakfast and a granola bar snack). Both groups’ physical performance is then measured with exercises (sit-ups, push-ups, lunges and more).
Learning goals (elementary)
- Describe the parts and functions of the main muscles and organs of the human body.
- Identify parts of the musculoskeletal system.
- Identify the organs of the digestive system and describe what they do.
- Name the nutrients the growing body needs (water, carbohydrates, proteins, fats, salts and minerals, vitamins).
- Understand nutrition facts labels on food products.
- Understand the difference between slow and fast carbohydrates.
- Describe how energy drinks affect metabolism.
Learning goals (secondary)
- Identify the main parts of the digestive system and their roles.
- Identify the digestive glands and describe their function.
- Match the organs of the digestive tract with the change they make to food (for example, mechanical action of the teeth, chemical action of the glands).
- Explain the functions of bones, joints and muscles (biceps and triceps).
- Describe the main biological functions of the nutrients in food (water, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, mineral salts).
- Understand the difference between slow and fast carbohydrates.
- Assess the energy and nutritional value of various foods.
