Understanding Food Servings

Overview

Year Level: Year 3
Duration: 55 minutes
Learning Area: Health and Physical Education
Strand: Personal, Social and Community Health
Sub-strand: Healthy and active communities
Code: WA3HEHPH1
Topic Focus: Actions in daily routines that promote health and wellbeing
Lesson Focus: Understanding appropriate food servings as part of a healthy daily routine

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Learning Intentions

By the end of this lesson, students will:

• Understand the concept of food servings and how they contribute to health and wellbeing.
• Describe the recommended daily servings from the five food groups.
• Identify ways to incorporate correct servings into their routines.
• Reflect on their own food intake habits in relation to healthy servings.

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Success Criteria

Students will:

• Correctly match foods to their respective food groups.
• Accurately identify how many servings of each group they should have per day.
• Participate in class discussions and group activities.
• Complete a personalised "My Healthy Plate" serving chart.

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Required Resources

• Australian Guide to Healthy Eating posters
• Laminated food group visuals
• Food picture cards (with typical Australian foods)
• Whiteboard and markers
• “My Healthy Plate” worksheet (custom-made for Year 3)
• Serving size spinner with interactive questions
• Digital timer or bell for transitions
• Sticky notes, markers, coloured pencils
• iPad/tablet (optional)

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Lesson Sequence

Introduction – “Let’s Think Healthy!” (10 minutes)

Purpose: Activate prior knowledge and set the scene.

1. Begin with a friendly welcome and write the word “Serving” on the board.

2. Ask:

   • “What do you think a food serving means?”
   • “Have you heard adults talk about how many ‘serves’ of something they’ve had?”

3. Display the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating poster. Quickly review the five food groups:

   • Vegetables and legumes
   • Fruits
   • Grains and cereals
   • Lean meats and alternatives
   • Dairy and alternatives

4. Mini-Brainstorm: On small sticky notes, students write or draw one food they enjoy from any food group. Stick them on the whiteboard under the correct group together.

Teacher tip: Praise culturally diverse food choices that reflect your students’ families and backgrounds.

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Explicit Teaching – “What’s in a Serving?” (15 minutes)

Purpose: Provide direct instruction on the concept of food servings using visual, hands-on engagement.

1. Use laminated serving size visuals to demonstrate actual serving sizes:

   • 1 cup of veggies
   • 1 medium apple
   • 2 slices of bread
   • 65g cooked meat
   • 1 cup of milk

2. Introduce a food-group colour code:

   • Green = Vegetables
   • Red = Fruits
   • Yellow = Grains
   • Blue = Dairy
   • Purple = Protein

3. Discuss recommended number of servings per day for 8–11-year-olds (tailored from the Australian Dietary Guidelines).

   • Vegetables: 4½ serves
   • Fruit: 1½ serves
   • Grains: 4 serves
   • Lean meats and alternatives: 2½ serves
   • Dairy: 2–3 serves

Teacher prompt: “Does your lunchbox include all five food groups? How many serves do you think you had today so far?”

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Activity – “Spin to Serve!” Game (15 minutes)

Purpose: Reinforce serving size knowledge with active, gamified learning.

1. Introduce the All-Group Spinner – a large circle spinner divided into the five food groups.
2. In small groups (3–4 students), each child takes turns spinning and drawing a food card that belongs to the group landed on.
3. The student must:
   • Identify the food
   • Say how much makes one serve
   • Classify if it’s a “daily” or “sometimes” food
   • Estimate how many serves they should eat of it each day

Extension/Plus thinking: Invite students to explain a time they ate too much or too little of a group and how it made them feel.

Differentiation: Students needing support can use a "Quick Fact" card with visuals; fast finishers can create a serving suggestion menu.

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Main Task – “My Healthy Plate” (10 minutes)

Purpose: Apply learning to students’ daily routines in a reflective and personal way.

1. Hand out the “My Healthy Plate” worksheet, divided into sections for breakfast, recess, lunch, snack, and dinner.
2. Students draw or write what they normally eat during each of these times.
3. Then, using coloured pencils (matching the food group colours), highlight how many different serves they consume.
4. Discuss in pairs: “Which food group do I eat most?”, “Is there a group I forget sometimes?”

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Plenary – “Serving Sense Wrap-Up” (5 minutes)

1. Quick class quiz:

   • “How many serves of vegetables should I have today?”
   • “Is 3 apples a serving or more?”
   • “Which food group helps our muscles grow?”

2. Invite 2–3 volunteers to share a small goal related to servings.
   E.g. “I’ll try to eat at least 2 veggies in my lunchbox”.

3. Congratulate students and reinforce the key message: “When we eat the right amount of every group, our bodies feel happy and strong!”

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Assessment Opportunities

Formative Assessment:

• Teacher observations during group activity and spinner game.
• Students’ self-reflection in the Healthy Plate task.
• Question and answer participation.

Summative Task (Optional Extension):

• Create a 1-day meal plan using correct servings. Could be completed as a take-home activity.

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Differentiation & Inclusion

• EALD students supported with visuals and sentence starters.
• Provide alternative tasks (drawing-only versions) for students with literacy difficulties.
• Incorporate foods from diverse cultures and dietary needs (vegetarian, allergies).
• Support students with food-related sensitivities by allowing alternative discussion methods (e.g., talking about meals eaten by loved ones or pets).

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Cross-Curriculum Opportunities

• Science: Nutrients and digestion
• Numeracy: Counting servings, comparing numbers
• English: Oral language development, vocabulary of food and health
• HASS: Exploring food traditions and cultural practices in communities

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Reflection & Follow-Up

Teacher Reflection Questions:

• Did students make connections between servings and typical meals at home?
• Was the concept of "serves" accessible to all learners?
• How might this lesson inform future lessons on nutrition or lifestyle balance?

Follow-Up Lesson Ideas:

• Design a "Healthy Lunchbox" using food packaging labels
• Cooking activity using all five food groups
• Guest speaker: local nutritionist or school nurse

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By teaching food servings in context with routine and culture, we not only promote health, but also empower students to take ownership of their wellbeing in meaningful, memorable ways.