Choices, Choices

I am a big believer in differentiation, despite what some might say.  When done correctly, it challenges students at their level of readiness, pushing them a little out of their comfort zone every time.  It also allows students to demonstrate their understanding in a variety of ways rather than forcing them into one method that may or may not be appropriate for them. 
But, most importantly, differentiation empowers students by giving them a choice how they demonstrate understanding.  I find that choice menus are excellent ways to allow students to exercise their choice in how they demonstrate what they've learned.  In the past, I've usually done tic-tac-toe board-style menus, but lately I have found I prefer the actual dinner menu setup.  This is mainly because I get to be all cheestastic and pretend that my classroom is a restaurant and I am the maitre d' and get to talk in dinner-themed analogies all period.  But I also like to do this because it is fun for the students, and they already have experience choosing from menus - with tic-tac-toe boards, I sometimes find students confused as to what they're supposed to choose.
I am currently leaf-deep in a photosynthesis unit, so I decided to make a choice menu for students so they could display what they knew about the inner workings of this metabolic pathway.  Before getting this choice menu, students will have studied the mysteries of the two main stages of photosynthesis (the light reactions) using various written and online activities.  Then, in order to show me that they understand the process and the connections between the two stages, they will be given the menu below and asked to make some choices. (I made everything the same price.  Why?  Because a level 9 understanding is what we work towards all the time, so I wanted to emphasize that with my pricing scheme.  The other reason is because I didn't want students to think one was "worth" more than another or more/less difficult depending on the prices.) The appetizers are choices designed for students to demonstrate their readiness to eat their "entree;" the objectives referred to in the document are ones that pertain to background information students need to know before showing me their know the intricacies of photosynthesis.  The entrees are choices where students can use technology, kinesthetic abilities, or writing abilities to demonstrate their understanding.  These are geared toward the students I have this year; I would need to change the choices based on the learning styles and needs of any future group of students using this menu.  While I would have loved to put more than one dessert on the menu, I didn't think a) they needed extra sugar, and b) I would have the time for more involved assessments, as I am being pressured to "get through the map" and the entrees will already take about 3 days for students to complete with quality.
I have to say I am disappointed in myself for not doing something like this earlier with my students, but adjusting to a new school and a new culture has been more difficult for me than I thought it would be.  But I'm in the swing of things now, and won't let that kind of stuff stand in the way of my students' learning for the rest of the year.  I'll be revisiting this activity after students have completed their projects next week, so stay tuned.