Grade 4 Lesson Guide
Grade 4 Lesson Guide
LESSON 1
FOOD
LABELS
1
Grade 4, Lesson 1 - Food Labels
SESSION 1 OF 3
WARM-UP
5 Minutes
1. Look at the two pictures of food below. Which do you think is healthful? Which is less healthful? Why do
you think so?
When we buy packaged food, it is easy to know how much nutrients they contain by looking at their labels.
Food labels do not only help identify what kind of food we are buying or which manufacturer made it. Food
labels contain the nutritional information that will help us determine if the food we are buying contains the
right amount of nutrients that our bodies need.
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Grade 4, Lesson 1 - Food Labels
The table below should help you in recalling the difference between healthful and less healthful food as well
as the importance of food labels. There is a corresponding PowerPoint presentation that you can use if you
have a computer available.
Slide
It is important for us to choose food that will help our bodies grow big and strong and
give us the energy we need to last the day.
When we eat fruits, vegetables, meat and milk in the right portions, we know that our
bodies are getting much needed nutrients. But what about food that is contained in
plastic containers, sealed bags or boxes?
Most food products are contained in packaging that have food labels.
Food labels are the primary means of communication between the manufacturer (the
company that made the food) and the consumer (us).
The manufacturer gives us an idea of what is included in the food we are eating. Food
labels have information about the food’s ingredients, its nutrients and its shelf life.
• Serving Size
• Number of Servings
• Energy / Calories
• Fats
• Saturated Fat
• Trans Fat
• Cholesterol
• Sodium
• Carbohydrates
• Dietary Fiber
• Sugar
• Protein
• Ingredients
• Expiry date
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Grade 4, Lesson 1 - Food Labels
Slide
In the next session, nutritional information in food labels will be discussed, but for now,
look at these important information: serving size and serving per container.
Serving per containers pertains to the total amount of servings in an entire container or
pack.
These are the most commonly used terms you can find on food packaging.
Storage condition describes how you should store food to maintain its nutritional quality,
especially if it needs special storage conditions like freezing or refrigeration.
Next is Expiration date. This describes how long the food will remain safe to eat. We should
not eat the food past its expiration date.
It also has directions for use. It tells us how to prepare and serve the food properly.
Understanding the food label is an important step toward making nutritious and varied
options.
It gives us the nutritional content of the product and helps us manage the portions.
1. Answer the worksheet that follows. If you are having a hard time, you can ask for your parents or
guardian for help to look at the sample label in the worksheet.
2. For the second part, look for food labels that do not contain any nutrition information about the product.
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Grade 4, Lesson 1 - Food Labels Session 1 Worksheet
NAME:
DATE: SECTION:
DIRECTIONS
A food label contains all the information you need to make good choices about a product. Read this
example of a food label and write down all the information it provides.
Look for a food label that does NOT contain all the information you need to understand a food’s nutritional
quality. What information is missing?
GLUE FOOD
LABEL HERE
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Grade 4, Lesson 1 - Food Labels
SESSION 2 OF 3
The table below should help you in understanding food labels further. There is a corresponding PowerPoint
presentation that you can use if you have a computer available. Prepare the food label that you were asked
to bring from the previous session. Have this ready while you read through the presentation.
Slide
Last time, the importance of food labels and information that food labels provide
were discussed. Cam you remember the following terms that were discussed?
Define the following terms and write your answers on the space provided.
• Serving size
• Storage condition
• Expiration Date
Storage condition describes how to store the food to maintain its nutritional quality,
especially when the product needs special storage conditions like freezing or
refrigeration.
Expiration date describes how long the food will remain safe to eat. Do not eat the
food after its expiration date.
Directions for use explains how to prepare and serve the food properly.
You have learned about carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and minerals from previous
lessons in previous grade levels. What do each of these nutrients provide the body?
• Carbohydrates give energy.
• Proteins help our body grow big and strong and helps to heal wounds and
injuries.
• Vitamins and minerals help our bodies function properly. They help prevent
sickness and keep our hair, eyes and skin healthy.
This sample label shows carbohydrates. There are different kinds, including sugar
and fiber.
This label shows us how much is in each serving size. Look at the label that
you brought today. Does your label also have this information? If it does, what
information about carbohydrates is found in your label? Write it in the space
provided.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
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Grade 4, Lesson 1 - Food Labels
Slide
Now look at proteins.
Again, this label shows how much proteins is in one product serving.
Does your label have this information as well? If it does, what information about
proteins is found in your label? Write it in the space provided.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
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This product contains many vitamins and minerals. What can we learn about the
vitamins and minerals in this product?
What information about vitamins and minerals are found on your labels? Write them
in the space provided.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Products also contain fat. Fat is a nutrient that gives energy to the body and helps
it absorb vitamins. Food are considered low in fat if they have 3g or less per 100
grams.
Fat can be healthy and unhealthy depending on where you get it from. You can get
fat through fruits and animal products.
There are different kinds of fats such as Saturated fat, Trans fat and Cholesterol.
Does your label have this information as well? If it does, what information about fats
is found in your label? Write it in the space provided.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Aside from information about nutrients, food labels also provide information about
calories.
Calories refer to the amount of energy that can be obtained from the food product.
Does your label have this information as well? If it does, what information about
calories is found in your label? Write it in the space provided.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Let’s look at sodium.
Sodium is a mineral required for normal nerve and muscle function.
Sodium is also needed to control water levels in the body. It is a component of salt,
the ingredient used to improve the taste of food.
We need to check labels for sodium content because too much sodium intake can
add up to high blood pressure, especially if the person is already overweight or
obese.
Does your label have this information? If it does, what information about sodium is
found in your label? Write it in the space provided.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
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Grade 4, Lesson 1 - Food Labels
Slide
% RENI describes the amount of nutrients a person will get from consuming one
serving of the food product. The higher a product’s RENI is, the more it meets the
amount of that nutrient that your body needs.
Does your label have this information? If it does, what information about RENI is
found in your label? Write it in the space provided.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Remember, in order to maintain good health and nutrition, we need to know the
quality of the food we eat. If a food item does not have all the nutrition information
on its packaging, we will not know the nutritional quality of that product. In order
to make good nutrition choices, we should look for products that have provide the
information we need to know.
Understanding the food label is an important step toward making nutritious and
varied options.
Knowing the nutritional content of the product, using the food label, can help us in
managing the right portions.
WRAP-UP
10 Minutes
On the space provided below, write down three things that you have learned from today’s lesson about food
labels.
HOMEWORK
For the next session, bring one food label with complete nutrition information and ingredient lists.
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Grade 4, Lesson 1 - Food Labels
SESSION 3 OF 3
The table below should help you in understanding food labels further. There is a corresponding PowerPoint
presentation that you can use if you have a computer available. Prepare the food label with complete
information that you were asked to bring from the previous session. Have this ready while you read through
the presentation.
Slide
Recall what food labels are for. Write your answers on the space provided.
Food labels help inform people about what they are eating and what is found in the food
they eat. They are informative and helps us understand what nutrients we get from the
food we eat.
Food labels help us make good decisions in buying and eating food because of the
nutritional information found in them.
These steps can guide you by clarifying what is written on food labels.
The first thing to look at is serving size and servings per container.
This tells you the recommended amount that should be in one serving. When you look at
all the other information on the label, it is based on this serving size.
So for instance, if a product has 120 calories, and the serving size is 45 grams, but you
are consuming twice the serving size (90 grams), then you are also consuming two times
as much calories (240 calories).
The next step is to look at the Nutrition Information Panel or Nutrition Facts.
This is the information that we looked at during the previous session. The information on
the nutrition panel helps us to also check whether any claims about the product are true
or not.
For example, if a product claims to aid in weight loss, but is high in calories and has high
sugar and fat content, then you know that the weight loss claim should not be believed.
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Grade 4, Lesson 1 - Food Labels
Slide
Key things to look for on a label are the amount of the following:
• saturated fat
• sugar
• sodium / salt
If these values are too high, you will want to avoid or limit intake of that product.
Look at the values for fat, sugar and sodium on the slide. For saturated fat, we should opt
for products that have less than 1.5 grams per serving. For sugar, less than 10 grams per
serving is considered best. For sodium, less than 120 milligrams per serving is best. Choose
products that have no Trans Fat.
Check your label and see if the given values mentioned are less or high. Write it in the
space provided.
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______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Next is to look at the list of ingredients in our food.
What is the purpose of reading the ingredients? Write your answer on the space
provided.
The list of ingredients help us know what is in our food.
Did you know that it’s important to see the order of ingredients in a food label?
The ingredients are listed in order from the most to the least amount. If fats are listed
first, then most likely the food is rich in fat. If sugar is one of the first listed ingredient,
that means the product contains a lot of sugar.
Look at the example. What are the top three ingredients in the list for the product?
In this example, the top three ingredients are grain, minerals, iodized salt.
Fats are sometimes called oil, vegetable / animal oil, coconut oil, palm oil, shortening and
lard.
That’s because different manufacturers use different types of ingredients.
Look at the labels that you brought with you today. Do you find different words in the
label? Write it down on the space provided.
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Grade 4, Lesson 1 - Food Labels
Slide
Sugar is also called sucrose, dextrose, fructose, glucose, glucose syrup, corn syrup, high
fructose corn syrup and molasses.
Look at your own label and see if any of these alternate names for sugar on the list.
By looking at the first three ingredients on the ingredient list, we will know what that
product consists mostly of, and we can make our decision based on that. For instance,
if oil is high up on the list, you may want to avoid that product or select one where oil is
not that high.
Does your label list down sugar or any of its alternate names, as one of the first on the
list (i.e. top three)?
Look at the pairs of labels in the picture. Compare each pair and discuss with a partner.
Choose which product you think is the better alternative. Write your answer on the space
provided.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Now look at two labels in the picture. Choose which product you think is the better
alternative. Why do you think that the product you chose is the better alternative? Write
your answer on the space provided.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Remember, in order to make good food choices, we need to read and understand a
product’s label. This will help us achieve two very important habits.
Understanding the food label is an important step toward making nutritious and varied
options.
Knowing the nutritional content of the product, using the food label, can help us in
managing the right portions.
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Grade 4, Lesson 1 - Food Labels Session 3 Worksheet
GROUP MEMBERS:
DATE: SECTION:
DIRECTIONS
Compare the pair of labels. What is the more nutritious product? Encircle it and explain why.
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Grade 4, Lesson 1 - Food Labels Session 3 Worksheet
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Grade 4, Lesson 1 - Food Labels Session 3 Worksheet
14
GRADE 4
LESSON 2
FOOD
SAFETY
Choose to
Choose Nutritious Drink Water
and Varied Options and Milk
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Grade 4, Lesson 2 - Food Safety
SESSION 1 OF 4
WARM-UP; SHARING
10 Minutes
16
Grade 4, Lesson 2 - Food Safety
The table below should help you in understanding concepts in food safety. There is a corresponding PowerPoint
presentation that you can use if you have a computer available.
Slide
This topic will talk about foodborne illnesses.
What do you think foodborne illnesses are? Write your answers below.
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Foodborne illnesses are defined as any disease of an infectious or toxic nature caused by
the consumption of unsafe food and water.
Let’s see if you can define these words. What is an infectious disease? Write your answer
on the space provided.
An infectious disease is a sickness that can be transmitted to people or organisms
through the environment.
What about the term toxic? What does that mean?
In other words, a foodborne illness is a sickness that one gets from eating food or
drinking beverages that are contaminated with harmful bacteria or toxins.
How do you think one can get sick due from a foodborne illness? Write your answers
on the space provided. People get sick with foodborne illnesses when contaminated
ingredients are not washed properly and eaten. It also happens when one eats food
that was not stored properly and it gets spoiled. Also, when one eats food served in
contaminated containers, they often end up having stomachaches.
There are many causes of foodborne illnesses and today we will discuss just a few.
What are raw food? Raw food includes any uncooked food such as raw eggs, raw fish,
raw meat, etc.
Eating raw food can be a cause of having foodborne illness. These types of food may
contain bacteria that can contribute to illnesses.
What is contaminated water? Contaminated water means the water is dirty or not pure.
Contaminated water is water that is not pure and is infected with bacteria or harmful
microorganisms. Drinking unclean water will lead to sickness.
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Grade 4, Lesson 2 - Food Safety
Slide
Spoiled animal meat is also a cause of foodborne illness. The bacteria that is formed in
the animal meat is strong enough to make a person sick if that bacteria is consumed or
eaten.
Eating unwashed food means eating ready to eat food like fruits and vegetables without
washing them first (e.g. apples or lettuce). Aside from the bacteria present on their
surface, these food may also have residues of toxic pesticides or insectides, hence the
need to wash.
To name a few more, these can come from improper cooking of food, having dirty food
equipment and having poor hygiene.
There are two Healthy Habits related to the lesson for today.
When we say “Choose Nutritious and Varied Options” that doesn’t just mean eating a
variety of Go, Glow and Grow food. This also means making sure that our food is clean and
safe to eat.
Also, when we “Choose to Drink Water” we should make sure that our water is clean and
safe for drinking to avoid foodborne diseases.
WRAP-UP
10 Minutes
Answer the worksheet that follows. Allot 10 minutes to complete the worksheet.
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Grade 4, Lesson 2 - Food Safety Session 1 Worksheet
NAME:
DATE: SECTION:
DIRECTIONS
Fill in the blanks by using the following phrases as clues. The first letter of the expected answer has been
provided to help you.
F I IS A DISEASE OF AN
INFECTIOUS OR TOXIC NATURE CAUSED BY THE CONSUMPTION OF UNSAFE FOOD AND WATER.
What causes foodborne illnesses? Look for pictures that show your answer to this question. These pictures
can be from magazines or from the internet. Glue those pictures in the space below and write a short
description explaining your answer.
Grade 4, Lesson 2 - Food Safety
LET’S REVIEW
20 Minutes
The table below should help you in recalling the common causes of foodborne illnesses as well as to reflect
further on conditions that lead to foodborne illnesses. There is a corresponding PowerPoint presentation
that you can use if you have a computer available.
Slide
Write the answers to the questions on the space provided:
Recall the meaning of infectious disease.
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Recall the common causes of foodborne illnesses. Write your answers below:
_________________________________________________________________________
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_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
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Some food are served raw like raw eggs or raw fish. Illnesses comes from the insects /
animals around the food when they fly around them and bring microorganisms such as
bacteria that can cause illnesses.
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Grade 4, Lesson 2 - Food Safety
Slide
Why is it unsafe to eat spoiled meat?
How will we know that meat is spoiled? Spoiled animal meat contains bacteria that is
strong enough to make a person sick, if that bacteria is consumed or eaten. Meat that
has spoiled has a foul smell and strange taste.
Lastly, we should make it a habit to wash our food. Eating unwashed food means eating
ready to eat food like fruits and vegetables without washing them first (e.g. apples or
lettuce). Aside from the bacteria present on their surface, these food may also have
residues of toxic pesticides or insectides, hence the need to wash.
Will washing food always ensure that it is safe to be eaten? Some food can be eaten raw
(e.g. fruits and vegetables). To ensure safety, they need to be protected from insects or
animals before and after washing.
When we say “Choose Nutritious and Varied Options” that doesn’t just mean eating a
variety of Go, Glow and Grow food. This also means making sure the food is clean and safe
to eat.
Also, when we “Choose to Drink Water” we should make sure that our water is clean and
safe for drinking to avoid foodborne disease.
WRAP-UP
10 Minutes
Call on a few students to share what they can immediately do at home to prevent foodborne diseases.
1. The worksheet that follows will be answered after the reading through the topic. This worksheet lists down
the causes of foodborne illnesses that were just discussed.
2. Observe the way food is handled in your home. Include instances that may be a risk for catching
foodborne illnesses at home. Here are some examples:
Cause of Foodborne Illness Describe Instances Where People in my Household may be at Risk
Eating raw food Undercooked chicken or raw pork
Drinking contaminated water Pitchers of water left exposed on the dining table
Poor hygiene The person who cooked the food did not wash hands properly
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Grade 4, Lesson 2 - Food Safety Session 2 Worksheet
NAME:
DATE: SECTION:
DIRECTIONS
Observe how food is handled, prepared or stored in your home. Look for conditions where each of these
causes of foodborne disease may be present or instances where members of your household may be at risk
for catching foodborne illnesses. Some examples are provided.
CAUSE OF FOODBORNE ILLNESS DESCRIBE INSTANCES WHERE PEOPLE IN MY HOUSEHOLD MAY BE AT RISK
POOR HYGIENE
Did you observe anyone in your household who did not
practice good hygiene when preparing or handling food?
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Grade 4, Lesson 2 - Food Safety
The table below should help you in understand the concept of food safety. There is a corresponding
PowerPoint presentation that you can use if you have a computer available.
Slide
This lesson will discuss foodborne illnesses and their symptoms.
There are a lot of signs and symptoms for foodborne illness but today we will be
discussing just the common ones.
Remember that these signs and symptoms are also symptoms of other illnesses, so if
you experience these signs and symptoms do not assume right away that you have a
foodborne illness.
Abdominal pain is the pain in the area near the stomach. This may vary in degree or
level of pain. Sometimes this can be a slight, tolerable pain, but sometimes this can be
extremely painful.
Diarrhea is an infection in the internal organs mostly from bacteria, germs and parasites.
You may experience loose bowel movements from eating contaminated food and/or
drinking contaminated water.
Fever is when your body is in a higher temperature than normal. Headache can also be
associated with it. Having a foodborne illness may possibly trigger a headache and/or
fever.
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Grade 4, Lesson 2 - Food Safety
Slide
You are very lucky if you haven’t experienced this yet. But for those of you who did, it is
a very uncomfortable feeling. This is when matter / stomach content comes out of your
mouth in an uncontrolled manner.
Better yet, you can prevent these from happening to you. We will discuss how in our next
session.
When we say “Choose Nutritious and Varied Options” that doesn’t just mean eating a
variety of Go, Glow and Grow food. This also means making sure that our food is clean
and safe to eat.
Also, when we “Choose to Drink Water” we should make sure that our water is clean and
safe for drinking to avoid foodborne disease.
WRAP-UP
10 Minutes
1. Remember this:
There are a lot of signs and symptoms that can be seen and felt whenever there is presence of foodborne
illnesses. The best thing to do is prevent it from happening, but when it is too late, we must immediately
consult our physicians for this to be cured.
2. Study the worksheet that follows. In the worksheet, you need to identify the DO’s and DON’T’s for each
of the signs and symptoms listed, e.g. what you SHOULD DO to help relieve the symptoms and what you
SHOULD NOT DO that would make the symptoms worse. TWrite down as many Do’s and Don’t’s that you
can think of..
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Grade 4, Lesson 2 - Food Safety Session 3 Worksheet
NAME:
DATE: SECTION:
DIRECTIONS
What are the important DO’s and DON’T’s for each of the signs and symptoms below? What should you
do to help relieve the symptoms (DO’s) and what should you avoid to ensure that these do not get worse
(DON’T’s)?
You may work on this worksheet with a friend. Afterwards, confirm whether your answers are correct by
interviewing a doctor, nurse or barangay health worker, if possible.
DIARRHEA
FEVER
HEADACHE
VOMITING
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Grade 4, Lesson 2 - Food Safety
The table below should help you in understanding the key concepts of food safety. There is a corresponding
PowerPoint presentation that you can use if you have a computer available.
Slide
What is prevention?
Prevention is the action of stopping something from happening or arising.
There are several ways to prevent foodborne illnesses.
We should also avoid having raw and cooked food come into contact with each other.
They should be separated.
We should not use the same cutting board or container without properly washing it. This
avoids bacteria from forming and contaminating food.
We should have separate cutting boards for raw food and cooked food. This also avoids
the contact between the two of them.
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Grade 4, Lesson 2 - Food Safety
Slide
We should also wash our hands after using the bathroom, touching animals like pets,
playing, coughing and sneezing and touching money.
These things are all sources of bacteria and we should wash our hands to eliminate any
bacteria that might have come into contact with our hands.
Whenever we cook, we should always wash our food beforehand, especially fruits,
vegetables, meat or fish.
Washing can initially remove dirt and bacteria, but the way to totally remove dirt and
bacteria in food is to cook the food properly. At a certain temperature, these bacteria will
not be able to survive. That’s why we should always wash and cook our food properly.
Have you ever experienced having excess food that you are unable to eat?
We should consume all the food we prepare or buy. If we are not able to finish all our
food, we should know how to store them properly so that it will not spoil.
Bacteria multiplies as soon as we leave food on our table, so food must not be left there.
We can put food in a clean container and refrigerate it.
We often reheat food that comes from the refrigerator, but we must reheat it properly.
Reheating can also kill bacteria that was formed in the food, even while it was kept in the
refrigerator.
As discussed in our previous lessons, many food items have packaging and labels.
Food labels contain an expiration date. This will help us know whether we can still eat the
food or not. Food that is past its expiration date will likely have bacteria and should no
longer be consumed.
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Grade 4, Lesson 2 - Food Safety
We should only use clean water for cooking and drinking. Bacteria and harmful
microorganisms in water can also contaminate our food, making it unsafe for
consumption.
The last way to prevent foodborne diseases that we will discuss is to protect our food
from insects, rats and other animals.
They carry bacteria and microorganisms that may cause foodborne disease when they
come into contact with our food.
After eating, we should store food in clean containers somewhere that animals will not
reach.
In your own words, summarize the different ways that we can prevent foodborne
illnesses.
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_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
WRAP-UP
10 Minutes
Answer the worksheet that follows. Fill in the blanks to complete the statements that are written on the
worksheet to test your knowledge of what you have read.
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Grade 4, Lesson 2 - Food Safety Sessions 4 Worksheet
NAME:
DATE: SECTION:
DIRECTIONS
Complete this topic outline using the information you learned in today’s class. Keywords and phrases have
been provided to help you. You may consult your notes or work with a seatmate to help you.
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