Lesson 2: Food - Matter & Energy

BIG IDEA 2:
Food provides animals with the matter and energy they need to
live - for body repair, growth, warmth, and motion.

Vocabulary:

• Matter
  
• Energy
  
• Calories

Whole-Class Discussion:
Think back to our Ecosystem Walk from the last lesson.

1. What kinds of organisms did you see?
2. What do those organisms need to survive?
3. Where do they get the things they need to survive?
4. Where do we, and ALL animals, get our energy?
5. When you and animals grow, where does the matter that gets added to you and their bodies come from?
   

In this lesson, you will focus on just one survival need - FOOD!

1. What do you, and all animals get from food?
2. What is energy? 
3. How is energy that we get from food measured?
4. Why do our bodies need energy? What does energy help us do? Complete the organizer & embed the image.
5. Why do animals need energy?
6. What is matter?
7. Why do our bodies need matter?

Food is the matter and energy that animals use to live and to grow.

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Activity:
In small groups, examine various nutrition labels to construct an explanation of the components that make up the food we eat (and pets eat). 

Use the Fruit & Vegetable Nutrition Labels to the right to help you as well.

Together as a class, let's go through each of these Nutrition Labels to learn how to read them before you analyze them on your own.

On the human food label:

1. How do we find the energy (calories) per serving?
   
2. How do we find the matter (carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals)?
   
3. Where can we locate the list of ingredients?
   

On the pet food label:

1. Where can we locate the list of ingredients?
   
2. How do we find the percentage of different types of matter in the food?
   

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Answer the following questions while analyzing the Nutrition Labels:

1. As a result of looking at food labels, what did you learn about food?
   
2. Look at the ingredients of one human food label. Write down the food name. What ingredients came from animals?
   
3. What ingredients in the above food label came from plants?
   
4. What similarities and differences did you notice between the human food and pet food labels you looked at?
   
5. Choose an animal/insect from the ecosystem walk. What do you think it eats? Explain what you think it gets from its food.
   

Answers:

1. .
   
2. .
   
3. .
   
4. .
   
5. .
   

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Reflect & Synthesize:
Answer the following questions in your blog post. Remember to have at least one follow-up sentence for each question, when possible.

1. What does food provide to animals, including humans?
2. Do the pet food and human food have the same nutrients? In what ways are they different?
3. Does a higher calorie count mean a food is better for pets to eat? What makes pet owners think that?
4. What is it in food that helps us repair our bodies and grow?
5. What in food helps us move and stay warm?
6. In what way does energy transfer when animals eat food?
7. Look at the nutrition label below for milk. How much energy is in the food?
8. What matter is in the food?

Answers:

1. .
2. .
3. .
4. .
5. .
6. .
7. .
8. .