How Do We Use Food

Before Video

• Sources of food can include eggs from chickens, meat from animals, and vegetables from plants. The list is huge since most things that come from plants and animals are food.

• Photosynthesis is the process by which plants convert energy from the sun into a food source using carbon dioxide and water.

• Energy comes in many different forms. It is transferred when it passes from one thing to another.

• We use food for energy in order to perform daily activities in life such as walking, talking, and running. We also use food for building blocks in order to grow and repair.

• Burning food for energy means to convert food into a useable form of energy. Our bodies don’t burn food like a fire does. Instead we break it down slowly and use the energy to power us. We also use the building blocks in food in order to grow and repair.

• The digestive system helps the body break down food into small building blocks which can be used for energy or to help us grow and repair.

After Video

• When a person eats food, their digestive system breaks it down into small pieces. Those small pieces are digested and absorbed by the body. Inside the body, food helps us get energy and also to grow and repair.

• Energy is first transferred from the sun to the plant by photosynthesis. Then, the plant is eaten by a person. When this happens, energy is transferred from the plant to a person.

• Almost all energy on earth can be traced back to the sun! Photosynthesis in plants converts light energy to chemical energy. Animals and people eat the plants and then the chemical energy in the plant can be used by animals (including humans).

• It gives us energy and building blocks to keep our bodies healthy and functioning properly.

• Plants do not ingest the food they need for survival. They must create their food through the process of photosynthesis. Animals ingest, or eat the food they need for energy from sources such as plants or other animals.

• One piece of evidence is hydroponic plants. They grow without any soil. It uses water, air and sunlight to grow. You can further confirm that a plant requires water, air and sunlight by trying to grow a plant in the dark or without water.

• Some foods contain very important nutrients that help the body grow. Others contain additives and other substances that are bad for you in large quantities.

Any nutritious substance that people or animals eat in order to give them energy and building blocks to grow and repair.

It makes things happen. (Or more formally: the ability to do work)

The feeling that makes you want to eat. It is actually our bodies telling us that we need food for more energy and building blocks.

A chemical that provides a lot of oxygen to help things burn.

Made up of the stomach, intestines and other components, it allows us to break down food and absorb nutrients.

A process by which plants use sunlight to make sugar from carbon dioxide and water.

A plant that is grown without soil. It uses minerals dissolved in water to grow along with sunlight and carbon dioxide from the air.

Healthy foods have a variety of nutrients that help give us energy and provide building blocks to help us grow and repair. Examples include fruits and vegetables.

Things like candy, potato chips and soda. They are often high in sugar and fat, which is bad in large quantities. They do help us get energy but are not as effective as healthy food at helping us grow and repair.