Sugar Shockers!

Learning ZoneXpress is my all time favorite Family and Consumer Sciences resource! I have their founder Melanie Nelson to thank for a great deal of my success!

They have recently produced and reproduced a good deal of resources on the amount of sugar in our typical food and beverages. In particular I am a fan of the new “Sugar Shockers” tear off sheets. I use these for my new lesson on sugar in hopes of shocking my students... Ha

https://www.learningzonexpress.com/search.aspx?keywords=suagr%20shockers

I start by creating a crazy visual of sugars found in common beverages I see my kids drinking. The first time I even ventured to the  recycle bin down the hall to collect cans/bottles they had discarded.  I cleaned the cans and bottles and then used clear drinking glasses that I labeled according to the beverages and filled them with the actual amount of sugar in them. I left the cup for Monster Energy, a very popular beverage at my school empty until they arrived. I then handed it to a student and explained how to convert the amount on the can into Tablespoons I poured into the cup in front of the class. I think some were actually shocked, and not the typical high school “roll my eyes stop talking” looks. 

We also discuss how much sugar they should be consuming each day and what that looks like!

I completed the lesson using a Choices article about teens and sugar that I had them read with their group and prepare discussion points for the class. The article also comes with assignments if you please: http://choices.scholastic.com/story/sugar-shocker