During health class, pupils can use the U.S. Department of Agriculture food pyramid to learn about healthy nutrition. Pupils can use a food diary to record all the foods they consume for three days. Each pupil can divide the foods into categories in the pyramid such as dairy, fruits, vegetables and meat. The pupil can then assess her diet according to federal guidelines. Each pupil might make suggestions for dietary changes that could be applied to meals eaten during the school day.
The class might also compare the school cafeteria menu to the pyramid. The class could distinguish between regular school lunches and those offered a la carte. The class can issue a grade to the school cafeteria fare based on the federal guidelines.
During social studies class, the elementary pupils might consider the traditional foods eaten in a geographical location they are studying. The pupils could research websites to locate traditional recipes for the area. The teacher might help the pupils to compile recipe cards for each country studied during the year. The pupils can separate the recipe cards and categorize them by groups, such as main dishes, beverages, vegetables and desserts. The pupils could collect them in a binder they can take home at the end of the year.
The pupils might use simple recipes to work on math measurement skills. They could work on equivalent measurements for standard and metric units and produce recipes with both types of measurements included in the recipe. The pupils can compare the recipes with standard measurements to the ones with metric units and verify by taste whether the recipe measurements were correctly computed.
The students might also use a simple recipe to with the percentages and fractions. The students could divide the recipe in half or fourths and accurately compute the needed changes to reproduce a smaller version of the recipe.
Through a history class, the pupils might work on doll-size traditional costumes for a display. They could learn how to sew simple garments and how soldiers and ordinary folk learned to repair garments. The teacher could help the pupils to locate authentic types of fabrics to produce the doll costumes.
The students can create a miniature display of the conditions and activities of a specific time period using the dolls.