Handout
City University of New York

Brother Gregory's Dinner: Food Energy Content

For Students 9th - 10th
Use a virtual calorimeter to investigate the energy content of various foods. The background information is clear and easy to understand.
Activity
Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments: Holt Modern Chemistry: Energy Content of Foods

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This probeware Lab Energy Content of Foods from the chapter Causes of Change uses a temperature probe to calculate the temperature change of the water to determine how much energy was released when food samples burn.
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs: Scientific American: Never Say Die: Eat Less Live Longer

For Teachers 9th - 10th
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...
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Food as Fuel

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students find and compare the amount of calories found experimentally with the values found on the food packages.
Activity
Cynthia J. O'Hora

Mrs. O's House: Lunch Menu Calories Tracking Project

For Teachers 9th - 10th
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.
Lesson Plan
Climate Literacy

Clean: How Much Energy Is on My Plate?

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This activity leads students through a sequence of learning steps that highlight the embedded energy that is necessary to produce various types of food. Students start by thinking through the components of a basic meal and are later...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Teachers: Fast Fats: An Analysis of America's Obsession With Fast Food

For Teachers 9th - 10th
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.
Activity
PBS

Pbs Teachers: Scientific American: Fat and Happy?: Counting Calories

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Explore the concept of the calorie. Determine the calories/gram of the burned food by measuring its mass, and make conclusions about the experimental design.
Article
Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic: Energy Density & Weight Loss:feel Full on Fewer Calories

For Students 9th - 10th
This article is medium-sized in length and provides great information on the subject. Links are provided for additional information as well.
Graphic
National Geographic

National Geographic: What the World Eats

For Students 9th - 10th
National Geographic presents a visual application to illustrate what types of daily diet caloric intake is from 1961-2011. Views of the whole world and breakdowns of individual nations are shown.
Lesson Plan
National Health Museum

Access Excellence: Food and Calories Lesson Plan

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This lesson plan from Access Excellence offers sample charts and an answer key which helps students guess the caloric content of a variety of foods and then check their answers.
Article
Other

South Coast Today: Fast Food, Faster Calories

For Students 9th - 10th
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.
Website
CNN

Cnn: Quick Facts on Calories

For Students 9th - 10th
How many calories should you eat a day? Just what is a calorie? What foods should I avoid? Click here and find the answers to these questions and more.
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Teachers: About All You Can Eat: Truth or Consequences

For Teachers 6th - 8th
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.