CONTENT: The Plastic Fork Diaries engages and educates kids about issues related to food (origins, preparation, nutrition, and more) through an ongoing tale of lunch and life at a mythical middle school.
AESTHETICS: This well designed site is engaging, vibrant and colorful. Flash Player is required for all the episodes and can be downloaded at the site.
ORGANIZATION: The top navigation bar makes movement between areas of the site simple. The story is organized into episodes with the past episodes indexed for viewing.
REVIEW: Middle school students will enjoy following the story of six students "as they experience first-hand the relationship between food and their changing bodies, cultural differences, the vanishing family meal, nutrition and athletic performance." New episodes are added weekly and all the past episodes are archived. Basic information and facts to support the story elements can be found in the Info Bites. The Phood Physiology course at Inside U gives students the facts about food and their bodies. Behind the scenes visits to learn how food is prepared or grown are provided in the Field Trips section. Discussion questions, food surveys and activities can be found in the downloadable activity guide.
