Teacher Lesson Plan - BMI for Kids - Body Mass Index
BMI Calculator for Kids Lesson Plan
Positive Healthy Messages
| Game for lesson plan: BMI Game for Kids |
| Grade Level: K – 5th (younger child may need help entering in height and weight) |
| Subject: Health/Nutrition/Computer skills |
| Duration: 20-30 minutes |
| Goals: Promote healthy nutrition; promote healthy lifestyle; promote the enjoyment of nutrition; reinforce mouse skills |
| Topic/task | Objective | Domain and Level |
| Promote healthy nutrition messages | Students will listen to Katlin’s healthy message about healthy eating and daily exercise using the BMI calculator. | Affective – Receiving |
| Promote healthy lifestyle | Students will explain ways to keep their body healthy after listening the the BMI game. | Cognitive – Comprehension |
| Promote the enjoyment of nutrition> | Students will see the character grow and shrink as they increase/decrease height information. | Affective – Receiving |
| Reinforce mouse skills | Students will enter information using the mouse. | Psychomotor – Coordination |
- Gender: N/A
- Reading Level: Basic. Full audio is available for this feature.
- Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills: Basic knowledge of the Food Pyramid. Basic computer & keyboard skills. Hand-eye coordination.
Katlin’s Magical Messages Game: A BMI calculator designed for children in elementary school. In order to hear a message the student must enter in their age, gender, height and weight. Younger children may need help with height and weight information and entering this data.
Height and weight information are both displayed in Apothecary system (inches, pounds) and the Metric system.
As the student enters in their height information, they will see the character get taller or smaller. Once the information is entered, the student will hear a positive message (audio and written text) about nutrition, how to eat healthy and exercise.
Students will not see a percentage or any number. Instead the student will see a color and hear a positive healthy message promoting healthy eating and daily exercise. There are four different colored messages a student can receive depending on whether they are:
- underweight - the message will be displayed in purple
- normal weight - the message will be displayed in green
- overweight - the message will be displayed in yellow
- obese - the message will be displayed in red
These messages were written by our dietitian and focus on healthy eating and daily exercise. We do not use any words that indicate "weight" or body image. There is a Parents' and Educators' BMI calculator that provides a BMI score and percentile.
To read the nutrition messages specific to a Body Mass Index, see the end of this page.
Materials: Students will need their height and weight information. Computer and Internet access, the latest Flash and Shockwave players installed, download free from Adobe.
Teaching Tips: Have the student review the Interactive Food Pyramid
Learn more about BMI to age percentiles.
Procedure:
- Have the students discuss in small groups ways to help their body grow tall and write them down. Topics would focus on nutrition, balanced meals, food groups, healthy foods that are packed with vitamins and minerals and exercise. (For younger students that can be done as a class discussion)
- Have the students share their ideas with the class.
- Discuss the importance of daily exercise.
- Guide the students to Katlin’s Magical Messages where they will enter in their age, gender, height and weight and receive a healthy message. Younger child may need help entering in height and weight.
Assessment:
Have the child track their activity for one week, using our Weekly Activity Tracker.
Turn in their sheet at the end of the week.
Have the children share the activities they did to reach at least 60 minutes a day.
Katlin’s Magical Messages Text:
Learn more about BMI to age percentiles.
These are the messages that a child may receive depending on their color coded BMI score:
If their Body Mass Index score was less than 5%
The message will be in a purple box and the child will hear this message
Your body may need more fuel. Make sure you are eating breakfast, lunch and dinner and two snacks each day. By getting more body fuel, you will feel strong and will have enough energy to do fun stuff like the monkey bars three times in a row.
If their Body Mass Index score was 5 - 85%
The message will be in a green box and the child will hear this message
Your body is getting enough fuel. Keep being active by playing sports or just riding your bike. You body does well with movement and daily exercise. Continue to eat foods from all the food groups with an emphasis on fruits and veggies. Your body will reward you by growing tall and feeling full of energy to learn new and cool things.
If their Body Mass Index score was 85 - 94%
The message will be in a yellow box and the child will hear this message
Your body might need more exercise. Make sure your body is having fun by being active for at least 60 minutes a day and eating plenty of fruits and vegetables. Sixty minutes is one hour and may seem like a long time but you can add up the minutes throughout the day. Your body will high five you!
If their Body Mass Index score was 95% or greater
The message will be in a red box and the child will hear this message
Your body probably needs more exercise. Make sure your body is having fun by being active for at least 60 minutes a day. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. High sugar foods like candy and soda taste good but can actually slow you down; enjoy them once in a while. Ask your mom to buy low fat or nonfat milk and yogurt.
