Introduction  

You will be a young scientist who will be working in a group to help find out about nutrition, and why the four food groups are important to us and our bodies. This quest will take you and the "hungry caterpillar" to other explorations of literature and games that will help you learn about nutrition. Be alert and observant like every good scientist should. 

The Task 

When you have listened to the story and discussed it with your teacher and the other students, the teacher will divide you up into 4 groups of scientists representing a food group. Each group will discover the following: 

• what in your food group is classified nutritious and what is not
• make a collage of your food group
• listen and relate other stories to "The Hungry Caterpillar" (Gregory the Terrible Eater, Lunch, Stone Soup, Green Eggs and Ham,etc.)
• sequence the order the food came in 
• sort each food by the food group
• discuss and dictate what your caterpillar would eat if he was only eating your nutritious food from your food group
• illustrate your dictation share your discoveries with the other scientist

Resources You will be able to use the board game of the Hungry Cateriller. Flannel baord pieces of the Hungry Caterpiller and the other stories being read. The computer program Kid Pix. You will use the books listed below in the credits to do your relating to the Hungry Caterpillar.

The Process 

Follow the procedure that a young scientist should to make your quest complete. 

1. When the teacher has finished reading "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and has broken you up into your food groups, you will be given the flannel board pieces that go with the story to help you decide what is nutritious and what is not.
2. Each group of scientist will be responsible in putting together a collage of the food group that they represent. Every scientist will take part in making this collage to share with the other children in the class.
3. You will have the opportunity to have other classic stories read to you that go along with nutrition. Ater the stories have been read, your group of scientist will work together and determine what the two stories had in common and what they didn't. You may use flannel board pieces to help you determine the likenesses and differences or you may draw the likeness and differences. Another good way to is to list them or do a venn diagram. 
4. You will be working on sequencing and sorting while making your discoveries. You will place the foods in sequential order as they appear in the story and will sort them by food category. You will use flannel board pieces and record your findings for both activities.
5. After making all of your discoveries and learning all about your food group, you will dictate to the teacher what you would have liked to see the hungry caterpillar eat from your food group. You will also illustrate it by using Kidz Pix. We will print it and put our own class book together. 

Evaluation 

Circle Yes or No 

Scientist Score Sheet                                         Scientist Name:_______________________________________________ 
 

I helped my fellow scientist.	yes	no
I listened to everyone's ideas.	yes	no
I did my best exploration.	yes	no
I did my best work.	yes	no

  Teacher Rubric  

Scientist Names:	1 point	2 points
Participation	Scientist participated in the group.	Scientiist cooperated and participated in the group.
Thinking Process	Stay on task	Share with the other classmates what they have learned.
Finished Presentation	Convincing	Convincing and enthusiastic about what they learned and presented.

    0-2 points = unsatisfactory 3-5 points = satisfactory 6 points = excellent    

Conclusion 
You are now a wonderful young scientist and have made some wonderful discoveries about your food group.  You have  Dshared your findings with the other children in your room and educatied them about the nutritious foods in your group.  You can visit  Eric Carle's website and learn more ab out the "Hungry Caterpillar' and some of his other wonderful books.  You may also visit Suessville and play the Green Eggs and Ham game.  Please visit and share your finding with a friend. 

.  www.eric-carle.com 
 www.suessville.com