Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that there is no advertising on the site. Kids will learn lots of nutritional information, from how many laps they have to swim to work of a cheeseburger, to a recipe for making their own yogurt.
Families can download the activity guide in the Parents section and talk with kids about their relationships with food.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Jean Armour Polly
Follow the lives of six middle school kids by reading their diaries, scanning scraps of paper in their lockers, and viewing other bits of ephemera. Each student has his own issues and secrets, and as it turns out, his own relationship with food. This site is a companion to the PBS series.
Each episode may be viewed online, adventure-game style. You "walk" through the school by clicking on a master map. Along the way you'll discover clues to what's going on with each student. For example, you learn that the school has new vending machines, and Amber's dad has given her a stash of quarters. There's also a note from her mom, with more quarters, asking her to not eat too much sugar, because it makes her sick. Amber's diary tells us how she fares in the "Attack of the Killer Vending Machines."
Additional material about each episode is also available on the site, plus there's more. Just how many laps would you have to swim to work off that cheeseburger? Ask the CAT (Calorie Activity Transposer). Take a wild guess -- if you're wrong the CAT will set you straight (105 laps to be exact).
In the "Field Trip" section, you can make a short visit behind the scenes at a middle school cafeteria. "Inside U" provides answers to timeless questions about the human body, such as "Where do farts come from?"
The "Recipes" area provides directions for making everything from a baked potato to a "fluffernutter." There's even a recipe to make your own yogurt.
The real meat comes in the "Info Bites" section. Read short interesting facts about such things as Styrofoam packaging, eating snakes, and vegetarianism. You can also find out what "organic" really means. Click "Show all items" to see all the "bites" at once.
Reviewed: 03/16/2006
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Educational ValueKids will learn lots of nutritional information, from how many laps they have to swim to work of a cheeseburger, to a recipe for making their own yogurt. |
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