Nutrition 101
Health resource heavy on content; light on engagement, interactivity
Subjects & Topics
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Nutrition 101
Pros: Nutrition resource is packed with information and gives kids an opportunity to test their knowledge.
Cons: App is very text-heavy, and interactivity is minimal.
Bottom Line: Delivers valuable content, but kids have to do a lot of reading with little engagement or interaction.
The organization of content by specific topics makes it fairly easy to use Nutrition 101 as an instructional supplement to a health or biology unit. Have kids read a chapter after they learn the content in class, review the vocabulary flashcards, and then take the quiz. The app doesn't accommodate multiple users, so even though kids can learn and review in groups, they'll have to take the quizzes individually. If kids are sharing devices, be sure to record quiz scores because you'll have to reset the user profile each time a new user takes a quiz.
Nutrition 101 is organized into three main sections: Learn, Review, and Test. In the Learn section, kids choose from 16 "snack-sized" chapters, each of which is broken down into a bulleted list of topics. This makes it easier for kids to digest the wealth of text-heavy information. Some diagrams break up the text and illustrate important concepts, but they're simplistic and non-interactive. The Review section provides vocabulary flashcards for each chapter, with a term on one side and its definition on the other. In the Test section, kids can take short quizzes, which are scored and tracked, to test their knowledge. The app also includes a page for controlling sound, resetting user profiles, and sharing feedback.
Nutrition 101 provides a lot of information about health and nutrition, and developers have made an effort to break the information into "snack-sized" portions. This is helpful for kids who may feel overwhelmed by the amount of text and required reading. It's also nice that kids have access to digital flashcards and quizzes so they can challenge themselves and assess what they've learned. The app has very little additional interactivity, however, and graphics are unimpressive. The addition of tappable glossary terms and interactive graphics could greatly improve the overall value of this science resource.
Learning Rating
Nutrition 101 is good for higher level students .
Nutrition 101 is an advanced program for many inner city students, struggling readers and ELL. Children found it difficult to read such a great deal of text without interaction or interesting check points. I liked the fact that all chapters provided vocabulary definitions through flashcard reviews. This is a great piece as it fosters studying habits and stamina in our middle school students. Nutrition 101 could better serve students by making it more stimulating for use. This seemed to function more at a late high school / early college level. In addition, more diagrams and graphics are needed with captions in order to disperse the text content.