PBS
Pbs Learning Media: What's in That Box of Cookies, Anyway?
In this video segment from TV 411, learn how to read nutrition labels on food containers and calculate the calorie content of different serving amounts.
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Fast Fats: An Analysis of America's Obsession With Fast Food
Analyze parts of a food label, and determine the amount of fat and calories in average foods. Conduct an observational experiment and examine the food choices of classmates.
Other
South Coast Today: Fast Food, Faster Calories
A personal account of eating at fast food restaurants. Learn how you can still eat at fast food restaurants without consuming all the calories you need in one meal.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: How Much Energy Is Stored in Different Types of Food?
In this project you'll learn a method for measuring how much chemical energy is available in different types of food. You will build your own calorimeter to capture the energy released by burning a small food item, like a nut or a piece...
Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic: Energy Density & Weight Loss:feel Full on Fewer Calories
This article is medium-sized in length and provides great information on the subject. Links are provided for additional information as well.
Other
Fast Food Fun
Use your knowledge of spreadsheets to analyze the calories and fat content of fast food choices. This project gives links to a USDA site and a final report format. A sample spreadsheet and grading rubric is also provided.
Other
Health Check Systems: Healthier Fast Food Choices
At this site from HealthCheck Systems you can click on the names of your favorite fast food places to see the "healthier" food choices they provide. Check out the calorie, fat, protein, and carbohydrate content for each food choice.
WebMD
Web Md: Food O Meter: Calorie Counter & Calculator
Help stick to a healthy diet by using the calorie counter to tell you the number of calories in food that you find in your refrigerator and restaurants. This searchable database will also give your calorie count based on the number of...
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Biology: Food and Nutrients
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Discusses classes of nutrients and their functions in the human body.
Michigan Reach Out
Newton's Apple: Body Fat
Through these lesson plans, investigate the different types of fat found in food and found in the human body. Discuss the functions and problems associated with dietary fat and make wise food choices based on what you learn about fat,...
Other
Kids' World Nutrition Information: Understanding Food Labels
In order to plan a healthy diet, students must know how to read a food label. Food labels show that a food has a little or a lot of certain nutrients. Look on the side of a product to find the Nutrition Facts title, which is fully...
Cynthia J. O'Hora
Mrs. O's House: Lunch Menu Calories Tracking Project
Maintain a healthy diet to maintain a healthy weight. Students will track their meals for a week, entering the food and caloric intake. After collecting the data and reviewing the spreadsheet, lead students in discussions of the results.
Read Works
Read Works: Hot Topics: Hot News About Calories
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about food, calories, and how the body makes energy. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Utah Education Network
Uen: Burning Calories
Second graders will investigate calorie usage in this activity. Students will make predictions, wear a pedometer, walk and record steps, and understand how high calorie foods require more calorie-burning effort.
PBS
Pbs Teachers: About All You Can Eat: Truth or Consequences
Demonstrate how calories are measured by building a calorimeter to measure the transfer of heat energy during a chemical or physical change. Test and record data on the calories in a peanut.
PBS
Pbs: Scientific American: Never Say Die: Eat Less Live Longer
This site from the PBS production "Never Say Die" provides a section on how to eat less and live longer. The first part of this site discusses food and nutrition. The second part is an activity in which you can make a calorimeter. The...
US Food and Drug Administration
Fda: Cool Tips for Kids
Teach your students to use the following easy ways to Read the Label at home, in the cafeteria, at the store, and at restaurants.
Curated OER
Kids Health: What's the Right Weight for Me?
It is easy to compare yourself with the celebrities and models you see every day on TV and in magazines. These pictures sometimes help shape our body image and we begin to think that we should look like these people. The truth is that...
Read Works
Read Works: Energetic Emily
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read a story about a girl named Emily who learns that we get our energy from food, especially healthy food. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Fat and Happy?: Testing for Simple Sugars [Pdf]
Investigate different methods for testing the sugar content in foods, and determine relative amounts of sugar in several juices using a sugar indicator solution.
US Energy Information Administration
U.s. Eia Energy Kids: Energy Calculators
A series of useful calculators for converting different sources of energy from one energy unit to another. Find conversion calculators for coal, electricity, natural gas, crude oil, gasoline, and diesel fuel, along with an additional...
National Institutes of Health
Nih Curriculum Supplement Series: The Science of Energy Balance
A great resource for teachers to help explain the balance between calorie intake and physical activity. There are many student activities that reinforce the need for physical activity in a healthy life style. Included are a teacher's...
Eastern Kentucky University
Eastern Kentucky University: Dietary Requirements of a Medieval Peasant
Notes from a university-level course about food and culture consider the food eaten by medieval European peasants and the calories expended in performing daily labors, for both men and women.