Food and Nutrients

Food and Nutrients

Food provides our bodies with the energy and nutrients they need to grow, stay strong, and remain healthy. Nutrients are special substances in food, like carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water. Each nutrient has a distinct function, ranging from building muscles to maintaining bone strength or aiding in the fight against sickness. Learning about food and nutrients helps you make smart choices about what you eat daily.

Science and Engineering Practices (SEP): Developing and Using Models

Scientists and health experts develop and use models to illustrate how food and nutrients are absorbed and utilized by the body, supporting various bodily systems. These models help explain processes like how food is broken down into molecules and absorbed into the bloodstream. You can build your own model, using diagrams, drawings, or objects, to show how nutrients are digested and delivered to the parts of the body that need them.

Activity Ideas:

• Food Label Detective – Examine food labels to compare the sugar, protein, and fat content in common snacks.
• Snack Makeover – Take a popular snack and redesign it to make it healthier while maintaining its delicious taste.
• Nutrient Match-Up – Match nutrients like calcium, iron, and fiber to the foods that provide them and describe what they do for the body.
• Debate: Fresh vs. Packaged – Use evidence to argue whether fresh foods or packaged foods are better for long-term health.

Crosscutting Concept (CCC): Energy and Matter

When you eat food, matter and energy are absorbed and move through your body. The food gets broken down into tiny molecules, and those molecules carry energy and nutrients to your cells. This process shows how matter is conserved—even though the food changes form, the atoms stay the same.

• Matter Movement: Food is broken down into smaller molecules that your body can use.
• Energy Transfer: Nutrients like carbohydrates give your body the energy it needs to move and grow.
• Conservation of Matter: Atoms in food aren’t destroyed—they are rearranged during digestion and used in your cells.

By exploring how energy and matter move through your body, you can better understand how food fuels everything you do.