Food for Thought: Nutrition Quest

Enter Foodtopia Below:


bit.ly/FFT2025


Post this link somewhere for your students or write on the board for them to copy.

Teacher Guide

A comprehensive teacher's guide provides step-by-step support to help you feel confident leading the quest.








 

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Student Workbook

Optional to use

The student workbook provides a structured way to explore key concepts and reflect on their learning and enable take-home activities to share with whānau. 




Tip: Print off in A5 booklet form to save on paper



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Student Completion Board

Print off the student completion board to help students easily track their progress across activities on the various islands.










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Frequently Asked Questions

Some questions to help with the activities in Nutrition Quest. For more specific nutrition questions you may have click here.

  • In the Meal Madness game, why is cheese vegetarian? I thought cheese was made with animal rennet. Also, why aren’t the burger patties gluten free – does meat contain gluten?

    Describe the item or answer the question so that site visitors who are interested get more information. You can emphasize this text with bullets, italics or bold, and add links.

  • Why doesn’t the final burger/wrap challenge in Meal Madness have to include any specific dietary requirements?

    Describe the item or answer the question so that site visitors who are interested get more information. You can emphasize this text with bullets, italics or bold, and add links.

  • Why is oat milk not counted as a grain in the food sorter?

    Describe the item or answer the question so that site visitors who are interested get more information. You can emphasize this text with bullets, italics or bold, and add links.

  • Why is corn a vegetable and popcorn a grain when they are both made from corn?

    From a nutrition perspective, corn that is harvested when fully mature and 

    dry (like popcorn) is considered a grain. On the other hand, fresh corn is 

    harvested when it’s soft and has kernels full of liquid. Nutritionally, fresh corn 

    is considered a starchy vegetable.

  • Can you explain the order of products from least processed to most processed in the Grains Island and Protein Island activities?

    Grains Island - Order of processing (least processed to most processed)


    Corn 

    1. Corn on a cob – fresh corn
    2. Canned corn - corn kernels removed and canned in water. Note – some canned corn can have salt and/or sugar added so check the label!
    3. Plain popcorn - mature kernels are dried and cooked, often in oil with salt added – even the plain varieties.
    4. Nacho cheese-flavoured corn chips - undergo several processing steps to create the chip, then baked or fried with additives, flavourings and salt

    Oats 

    1. Oats – plain, dry oats with nothing added
    2. Homemade porridge – oats cooked with milk or water
    3. Flavoured porridge sachet – oats with added sugar and flavours, and sometimes other additives e.g. added starch or other inclusions
    4. Oaty choc chip muesli bar – oat bar made with chocolate, added sugar, added fat and other additives

    Protein Island - Order of processing (least processed to most processed)



    Fish

    1. Fresh fish – raw fish
    2. Plain canned tuna – tuna carved and cooked. Canned in water or oil (may have salt added)
    3. Flavoured canned tuna – as above, plus ingredients and additives for flavouring
    4. Deep-fried fish on chips – fish filleted, covered in batter and fried in oil. Served with chips fried in oil. Salt added.

    Beef 

    1. Steak - raw beef, cut
    2. Beef mince – raw beef, cut and ground into a finer mince
    3. Beef sausages – raw beef mince, mixed with flavours, fillers, additives and salt and stuffed in a casing
    4. Sausage rolls – filling is similar to sausages, wrapped in a pastry shell

    Chickpeas 

    1. Chickpeas (dried)
    2. Plain roasted chickpeas – chickpeas soaked/canned and roasted. Salt may be added.
    3. Hummus – canned or cooked chickpeas ground and mixed with ingredients like tahini (ground sesame), oil, garlic, lemon and salt.
    4. BBQ-flavoured chickpea crackers – chickpeas ground into a flour, formed into a shape and cooked with added flavours, salt and additives