Nutrients & Your Digestive System

HEALTH EDUCATION - Lesson 8 - Week 8/10

Growing Up Healthy (4)

HPE Lesson Plans - Health - KHE, 1HE, 2HE, 3HE, 4HE, 5HE

Safety | Mental, Social & Emotional Health | Substance Abuse & Disease Prevention | Growing Up Healthy

4TH GRADE VIRTUAL HEALTH

L1: You Are Growing Cell by Cell| L2: Your Brain & Nervous System: The Control Center for Growth | L3: Your Skin & Its Care | L4: Your Teeth & Their Care | L5: Your Vision & Hearing | L6: Your Posture| L7: Your Physical Fitness | L8: Nutrients & Your Digestive System | L9: Food and the Nutrients It Contains | L10: Using MyPlate | EXTRA: Understanding a Food Label | EXTRA: Preparing Food Safely

Growing Up Healthy

Nutrients & Your Digestive System

See below for the following:

Standard(s), Essential Question(s), Big Idea(s)


LEARNING TARGET / SUCCESS CRITERIA

I will identify the six (6) major nutrients, their sources, and their functions in the body.

I will describe how the body digests and uses food.

I will explain how fiber is important to health.

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PRE-INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITY

Vocabulary

carbohydrates - your body's main source of energy

fats - nutrients that give your body more energy than any other kind of nutrients

proteins - nutrients that give you energy and help build and repair your cells

vitamins - nutrients that help your body perform specific functions but do not give your body energy

minerals - nutrients that help your body grow and work but do not give your body energy

digestive juices - substances that break down large nutrients

water - a nutrient that helps break down foods, carries digested nutrients to your cells, and carries away wastes

fiber - the woody substance in plants that helps move food and wastes through your digestive system


OPENING (Engage)

Main Idea

Food contains six (6) kinds of nutrients that are important to good health.

Why Learn This?

You can use what you learn to help you choose healthful foods.



WORK PERIOD (Explore/Explain/Extend/Elaborate)

READ: Nutrients & Your Digestive System


You skate, you swim, you run. You grow and get taller. You read and study. You sleep. Food gives your body all the substances it needs to grow, work, and be active. Food also gives your body the materials it needs to build and repair itself. No wonder you get hungry!


What are the energy nutrients?


Nutrients are the substances in food you need for growth, energy, and good health. Foods contain six important nutrients: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water. You need to eat a variety of foods to get all the nutrients necessary to stay healthy.


Carbohydrates (kar•boh•HY•drayts) are your body's main source of energy. You need large amounts of carbohydrates each day because your body uses them quickly. You can get carbohydrates from breads, potatoes, cereals, beans, fruits, and desserts such as cookies and raisins.


Vegetables such as carrots and peas and grains such as rice and pasta are also good carbohydrate choices. They contain many other nutrients as well and not too much sugar.


Fats give your body more energy than any other kind of nutrient. Your body stores extra fat when you don't use all the food energy you take in. You use this stored energy when you don't get enough energy from other foods. A layer of fat helps keep you warm. It also protects your body's insides.


Oils, margarine, butter, meat, cheese, whole milk, and nuts all have fats. Cakes, pastries, and fast foods also are high in fat. It's easy to eat more fat than your body needs, so choose foods carefully.


Proteins (PROH•teenz) are another kind of nutrient that gives you energy. They also help build and repair your cells. Without protein your body would not grow. You would not get better if you were ill. Cuts you might have on your skin would not heal. You can get protein by eating eggs, meat, poultry, fish, oatmeal, and peanut butter. Some vegetables, seeds, and beans also have a lot of protein.


Why is breakfast important?


Would you like to feel better when you start your day? Would you like to do better in school, too? Here's a tip: eat a good breakfast. Sound strange? It's true!


Your body and brain need nutrients to work their best. When you wake up, it likely has been about twelve hours since you last ate. If you don't eat breakfast, you will begin to run out of energy. About mid-morning you will start to slow down. You won't be able to think well. You may even get tired and grouchy.


To avoid this, you need to refuel each morning with a healthful breakfast. You may not want to get up extra early. That's fine. Breakfast doesn't need to take long. You can quickly perk up cereal with chopped nuts or fresh, canned, or dried fruit. You can add fruit to cottage cheese or yogurt.


For a change of pace, try filling celery with peanut butter or a meat or cheese spread. Eat it with a glass of milk. Or, have cheese and crackers with vegetable juice or instant breakfast mix. All these foods will keep you and your brain going strong until lunch.


Why do you need vitamins and minerals?


Not all nutrients give you energy. Vitamins (v-tuhemuhnz) are nutrients that help your body perform specific functions. You need only small amounts of each vitamin. Too much of some vitamins can be harmful.


Each vitamin has one or more jobs in the body. For example, vitamin A keeps your skin and eyes healthy. Vitamin D keeps bones and teeth strong. You need vitamin C for healthy gums and teeth. Vitamins B, and B, help you use the energy in carbohydrates. Vitamin Bi2 helps keep your blood and nerves healthy.

Minerals (MIN•ruhlz) are nutrients that help your body grow and work. Like vitamins, minerals do not give you energy and are needed in only small amounts. In fact, too much of some minerals can be harmful.


Minerals are found in many foods. Fruits, vegetables, and milk products are good sources of minerals. So are meats, poultry, and fish. The jobs of some minerals are described in the chart above.


Minerals help keep the water inside and outside your cells in balance. They make chemical reactions occur. They help build body parts such as bones and blood cells.


Some minerals are added to prepared foods. For example, sodium is added as salt to many foods as a preservative or for flavor. And because so many foods contain added salt, eating too much salt is a common problem.


How does food move through the body?


Your body cannot use a whole bite of cheese. The cheese, or other food, must be broken down. This happens in your digestive system.


In your digestive system food first breaks down into smaller pieces. Next, large nutrients break down into smaller building blocks. Digestive juices (dy•JES•tiv JOO•suhz) are substances that break down large nutrients. Your body then takes in the smaller building blocks, long with vitamins, minerals, and water.


You take in two important substances each time you at a piece of celery or an apple. These substances are water and fiber. Water and fiber are in many foods. They Ip your body use the food you eat.


Stages of Digestion 

Did you know that water makes up more than half of your body? Water is a nutrient necessary for life. It helps break down foods. It carries digested nutrients to your cells. It also carries away wastes.


Foods such as lettuce, melons, and raw carrots have a lot of water. But drinking water is the best way to get the water your body needs. You should drink six to eight 8-ounce glasses of water every day.


Fiber is the woody substance in plants. Your body cannot digest fiber, but it needs fiber to work well. Fiber helps move food and wastes through your digestive system. It sweeps your body like a broom.


Oatmeal and brown rice are good sources of fiber. Apples, pears, and other fruits with skins you can eat give you fiber, too. Vegetables such as broccoli, corn, peas, and beans also have a lot of fiber.

REMEMBER...Food contains six (6) kinds of nutrients that are important to good health. You can use what you learn to help you choose healthful foods.


CLOSING (Evaluate)


Standard(s)

HE4.1a - recognize the relationship between healthy behavior and disease prevention

HE4.3a - identify the characteristics of valid health information, products, and services

HE4.3b - list resources from home, school, and community that provide valid health information

HE4.5b - describe the possible consequences of an unhealthy decision and healthy alternatives when making a health-related decision


Essential Question(s)


Big Idea(s)


RESOURCES / INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS


DCSD Board-Approved Instruction Materials


Technology