In this curriculum relevant Health and Physical Education Kit for Upper Primary (Years 5-6), teachers and students will nurture an appreciation for the complexities of the natural versus synthetic vitamin community debate. It will help students understand that all chemicals are not toxins, and that some chemicals are good for us – such as oxygen and water. The HPE Kit will inform students about the significance of food in a balanced nutritious and healthy diet.
This Kit contains a variety of resources for teachers to use with students after watching the VITAMANIA documentary. It is designed to enhance the viewing experience and extend learning opportunities. The Kit’s learning exercises contain interesting facts, findings and anecdotes, that will enable students to make considered and correct decisions about their own, and their family’s vitamin consumption.
Downloadable Videos (with a license to screen in educational contexts)
The full-length Vitamania film (90 minutes)
Short clips:
Three songs
Three bonus scenes
Eight ‘cutdown’ clips from the film
Seven extended interviews with featured experts
Lesson Plans
Three x 45min lesson plans that use fact-checked content from VITAMANIA to achieve learning outcomes consistent with the Australian curriculum:
Lesson 1: Meet The Vitamins
In this lesson, students will understand the concept of vitamins – what vitamins are, where natural vitamins come from, how we consume them and why they are important for a healthy life. In doing so, students will be able to apply this knowledge to their own wellbeing and that of their family and friends.
Lesson 2: Sourcing Essential Vitamins
In this lesson, students will investigate the sources of essential vitamins as they design a balanced nutritious meal. They will learn about the components of synthetic vitamins, enabling them to make informed decisions about the food they eat and the vitamins they consume. Students can then apply this knowledge in ways that promote the health and well-being of themselves and their families.
Lesson 3: The Supplementary Vitamin Industry
This lesson will enable students to identify and understand the extent of the synthetic vitamin and dietary supplement industry. They will counter this understanding with their informed knowledge about relatively cheaper, naturally occurring essential vitamins.
Quiz
20 questions about vitamins of either multiple choice, short answer, fill in the blank, and true or false answers
Answer Sheet included
Thinking Activities
10 research questions about vitamins designed to provoke thought and help form opinions
Answer Sheet included
Debate Topics
3 controversial issues surrounding vitamins:
Debate Topic 1: Nutrition science
Debate Topic 2: Vitamins – Recommended Daily Intake
Debate Topic 3: Food is better than vitamin supplements
Additional teacher resources
Supporting documents for the classroom:
- Meet The Vitamins – Fun Facts
- Vitamin Profiles
- Vitamin Discovery and Understanding Timeline
- Vitamin Data and Health Benefits
- Natural Vitamin Source List
- Interesting Facts from Vitamania Script
- All About the Vitamania Production
- Vitamania Personal Stories (from the documentary)
- Vitamania Song Lyrics (from the documentary)
- Behind the scenes photos
- Vitamania poster
How to use this kit
This learning resource kit is designed as a full unit of study. It can be used over several lessons as comprehensive study focus unit, or can be utilised in sections according to your teaching and learning needs.
Classroom Viewing
- The Vitamania Documentary provides explanations, investigations and insights that can be watched as a single 90-minute viewing experience
- A variety of supporting specific topic learning clips enhance and reinforce the learning opportunity
- All video content can be downloaded and shared freely across your school network and devices
Lesson Preparation
- All three Lesson Plans use fact-checked content from Vitamania to achieve learning outcomes consistent with the Australian curriculum. Simply follow the Lesson Plans in chronological order for a comprehensive journey of vitamin education.
- Make sure to read the lesson plans prior to class time, as they indicate which video clips are relevant and which materials are required from the provided Teacher Resource Folder. These resources have various applications including classroom learning support for students and provision of detailed background information for teachers.
- Design your own lessons using the Quiz, Thinking Activities and Debate Topics!
