1. Students will understand that energy is what gives us the ability to do work.
2. Students will understand that the source of our energy is food.
3. Students will understand the importance of energy balance.
4. Students will understand that we must include physical activity in our daily routine to balance out the energy that we take into our bodies from food.

1. 1 roll of tape per group of students
2. 1 ruler per group of students
3. Scratch paper and pencils
4. 1 stack of Food Cards per group
5. List of “Energy Sources for People” (provided)
6. Energy balance pictures (provided)

Your students may already understand that food is what gives us the ability to do work, move our bodies, etc.  In other words, we need food to survive.  However, students may not realize that we cannot take in an endless amount of energy. We only need enough energy to keep our bodies functioning.  The energy we take in must be proportional to the amount of energy we expend.  If we eat too little, we will not be able to get through the day.  If we eat too much, our bodies store the energy and we may become overweight.

In this lesson, the students will learn about energy and how we benefit from it.  They will also learn how to reach energy balance.  The important part is to stress physical activity as a means of balancing the energy we take in with the amount that we need to get through the day.

Every living thing has to have energy to survive.  Plants get their energy from the sun, animals get their energy from plants or from other animals, and humans get their energy from food (which comes from plants or animals).  This is typically referred to as the food chain. 

What is energy?

Energy is the ability to do work (move, dance, walk, run, play, etc).  Our body needs energy to perform essential functions (breath, pump blood, send messages, talk, etc). Energy comes from an external source, food, which we put into our bodies.

Does it matter what type of energy we put into our bodies?

Yes! It not only matters what type of energy we consume, but how much energy we consume. The type energy that is best will come from a diet with a lot of variety. This means eating from the five food groups and limiting foods of minimal nutritional value (sweets, potato chips, soda, etc)

What if we get too much energy?

Energy not used by our daily activities and essential body functions is stored in the body.  Energy is stored in our bodies in the form of extra weight.  To make sure that we balance the amount of energy we consume with the amount of energy we expend, we need to incorporate physical activity into our daily routine.  Our body uses energy to do everything, even to sleep.  But there is usually a little extra that we should use to play with our friends, take a walk, do chores, or anything else we consider a fun way to be physically active.

What is energy balance?

Energy balance means eating enough food to do what we want to do and to be healthy, but not eating too much and getting too little physical activity. Balance means two things are equal or almost equal.

*Show the students the Energy Balance illustrations found with this lesson.

Do Activities 1 & 2 to help the students understand the concepts discussed above.

Explanation of the activity:

Energy is a difficult concept to grasp, as it comes in many different forms and has many meanings. This game is intended to help simplify the concept of energy. Food has energy which gets into our body through the foods we eat. We use this energy to move our bodies and for our bodies to work.

Preparation:

If playing in a classroom, you may want to move the desks apart from each other so the students have more room to walk around. This is not necessary; however, as the students will only be walking around slowly and can maneuver around the desks.

Directions:

1.      Have the students stand up.

2.      Explain that they are going to play a game which requires them to use some of the energy in their bodies. They are going to walk slowly around the classroom and continue walking as they hear the names of things that give their bodies energy.

3.      The students will begin the game by slowly walking around the space being used (be it a classroom, hallway or gym).

4.      Read down the list of “Energy Sources for People,” reading each word clearly and pausing between words.

5.      As you are reading the words, the students must continue moving as they hear words that give people energy (foods). The students will be slowly milling about the space, listening as each word is read off. 

6.      When a word is read that does not give people energy, the students are to freeze where they are (because they cannot move if they do not have energy, and the word just read does not give them energy).  Any student that continues to move is out and must sit out the rest of the game.

7.      After calling students out, continue on reading down the list, and the students can move when they hear words that give them energy.

8.      Continue playing in this fashion until all the students are out, or until you read through the whole list.

(Bolded words are those which do not provide energy for people)

1. Carrots                                                                       
2. Hamburger
3. Wheat bread
4. Milk
5. Batteries
6. Tuna fish
7. Macaroni and cheese
8. Cars and trucks
9. Chicken sandwich
10. Pretzels
11. Yogurt
12. Low-fat milk
13. Papaya
14. Spaghetti and meatballs
15. Orange juice
16. Beef taco
17. Swiss cheese
18. Electricity
19. Pepperoni pizza
20. Rice
21. Baked potato with sour cream
22. Honey
23. Gasoline
24. Sushi
25. Wind
26. Waffle
27. Banana split with a cherry on top
28. Eggs
29. Coal
30. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
31. Corn
32. Tortillas
33. Avocados
34. Microwave TV dinner
35. Sunlight (students may protest that plants get their energy from sunlight, and we eat plants and the animals that eat plants, so therefore we do get energy from sunlight. Explain that this interaction is called the “food chain.” Ask the students if we get energy directly from the sun.  Ask them: “If we are tired and hungry and go stand in sunlight, will our bodies get energy?”
36. Barbeque ribs
37. Pomegranate
38. Grilled cheese sandwich

Explanation of the activity:

The object of this game is to demonstrate that energy is taken into the body by eating foods, and that different foods provide different amounts of energy. Energy is either used up or stored. We want to stress the fact that storing food is not necessarily a bad thing.  Although the energy unit values assigned to the different foods are loosely based on their caloric values, this fact should not be mentioned to the students. We want to ensure that the students do not get the message that they need to count calories and then expend the amount of calories they consume. Rather, we want them to realize that food contains energy which is used by the body to perform physical activities. Energy that is not used by physical activity is stored in the body.

Preparation:

You will need: 1 roll of tape per group (or per student, if playing individually), 1 ruler per group (or per student, if playing individually), scratch paper and pencils for the groups (or student), and 1 stack of Food Cards per group (or per student, if playing individually).

Prepare the “field” by marking the width of one end of the room or hallway with a long piece of tape. This is the starting line, so label it as such with a marker.  Measure 8 feet (96 inches) from the starting line and mark the finish line, or “Energy Zone,” with another long piece of tape the width of the field. Label it as the “Energy Zone” with marker.  Every 2 feet from the starting line to the energy zone, make a long mark the width of the field with tape, in order to give the students a better sense of the length of the field.

Scenario 1

Mark on the tape the number of inches from the energy zone that it is. For instance, the first line of tape from the starting line will say “72 inches,” the second line will say “48 inches,” and the third line will say “24 inches.” This will allow the students to get a better sense of how many inches they still need to go to reach the Energy Zone.

Directions:

1. Tell the students to imagine that they are going to play a game of touch football with their friends that evening. Playing a game of touch football for about 25 minutes uses up a measure of 100 units of energy from their body.
2. Explain that these energy units (EUs) get into the body through foods they eat, and different foods contain more or less EUs than other foods.
3. Explain that the game they are going to play right now is kind of like football, and they are going to all start on one end of the “field” and try to get to the other end, the end zone—or in this case, the “Energy Zone,” without going too far beyond it.
4. They will be given a stack of cards with different foods on them, and over the course of the game they must pick 6 different foods to “eat.” They will move across the field according to the EU value assigned to each food that they choose to “eat,” where 1 EU = 1 inch.
5. Once again, stress that they want to get to the energy zone without going too far beyond it, so they want to choose foods that will get them there, but without going beyond it, if possible.
6.  Since they must pick 6 foods, they have 6 “downs” to get into the energy zone (similar to the 4 downs needed for a first down in football).

Scenario 1

The students know the EU values assigned to each food because the value is written on the backside of the food cards. They will try to plan mathematically which foods to “eat” by combining 6 different foods with EU values equaling 100, or nearly 100.

Scenario 2

The students do not know the corresponding EU values assigned to the foods they choose to “eat.” The teacher has a list of the foods and their EU values.  Once the groups decide which food they want to “eat” at at a particular down, the teacher tells them how many EUs the food contains and the students move the corresponding number of inches.

7. Have the groups line up at the starting line.  Hand each group their own stack of food cards (40 per stack).
8. 1^st Down -- give them a few minutes to pick their first food to “eat.”
9. Depending on which scenario you are using, allow the students to use their rulers to measure the distance their food’s EUs will take them.
10. Have the students place a small piece of tape on the floor to mark how far that food took them, so they know where to measure from for their next food choice.
11. 2^nd Down – give the students a few minutes to pick the next food they want to “eat,” stressing that they cannot choose the same food, and they want to try to get to the energy zone without going far beyond it.
12. Repeat until the 6^th Down.
13. Allow students to move beyond the energy zone (as far as the space you are working in will allow), which will occur if they consistently choose foods with high EU values.
14. The students who get closest to the energy zone tape, with or without going beyond it, are the winners.

The following questions will help to summarize the activity:

1. What kinds of foods had the highest amount of energy? Why?

Foods that do not have many nutrients have the most energy. Sugar and fat provide more energy per ounce of food, but they don’t provide many nutrients. 

2. Since foods of minimal nutritional value have the most energy. Why should we eat them less often than fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat milk?

Because fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat milk products have the nutrients we need. Think of your diet like an allowance or budget. If you spend all of your allowance or budget on luxury items,  you may not have enough to pay for what you really need. Similarly, if you eat a lot of fatty or sugary foods that don’t contain many nutrients, you may be too full to eat the nutrient-rich foods you need. Your budget for food is determined by your age, gender, height, and how physically active you are. The only things you can control are the foods you eat and the amount of physical activity you get. The relationship between these two things is called “energy balance.” You want to keep a balance between the energy coming into your body through the foods you eat and the energy you use during physical activity.

*You may wish to refer to the Nutrient Chart included in this activity.

3. Why did you want to get as close as possible to the Energy Zone?

The Energy Zone represented a balance between the energy coming into your bodies through the food you ate and the energy being used up as you played touch football.  

4. What did it mean if you went far beyond the Energy Zone?

If you went far beyond the Energy Zone, you took in much more energy than what you used up playing the physical activity of touch football. Your body was not in energy balance.

5. What did it mean if you did not get to the Energy Zone?

It meant you did not get enough energy from the foods  you ate. You do not want to go too far over the Energy Zone, but you definitely want to make sure you have enough energy to get there. Without enough energy, you will feel hungry, tired, nauseous, distracted and dizzy. You want to make sure you have enough energy to do all the things you want to do during the day.

6. What do you think would happen to left-over energy if you went past the Energy Zone?

Energy that is not used by the body is stored. Any energy left-over at the end of the activity would be stored…unless the activity was extended. Playing longer would use up any extra energy. You can make your energy budget more balanced by increasing your physical activity.

Food                                                                                       EU’s                                       

1. Pizza                                                                                    50

2. Cheeseburger                                                                      40

3. Ice cream sundae                                                                55

4. Pop                                                                                      18

5. Hot dog                                                                               23

6. Potato chips                                                                                    47

7. Candy bar                                                                           34

8. Brownie                                                                              28

9. Sugary cereal                                                                       49

10. Scrambled eggs                                                                 22

11. Turkey sandwich                                                               20

12. Broccoli                                                                             12

13. Carrots                                                                              12

14. Corn                                                                                  14

15. Apple                                                                                15

16. Banana                                                                              15

17. Apple juice                                                                        13

18. Tomato soup                                                                     20

19. Whole-grain cereal                                                            14

20. Pretzels                                                                              15

21. Glazed donut                                                                    32

22. French toast sticks                                                                        32

23. Milkshake                                                                          42       

24. Fast  food egg, cheese, and ham sandwich                      54

25. Pepperoni sausage                                                             38                   

26.  French fries                                                                       37

27.  Cheesecake                                                                       29

28.  Rice cake                                                                           4

29.  Trail mix                                                                            14

30.  Chicken noodle soup                                                        17

31.  Popsicle                                                                             5

32.  Spaghetti with marinara sauce                                          36

33.  Cottage cheese                                                                  13

34.  Peanut butter and jelly sandwich                                      24                                           

35.  Granola bar                                                                       15

36.  Popcorn with no butter                                                     10

37. Steak                                                                                 55

38. Fast food chicken nuggets                                                            44

39. Salad with small amount of dressing                                24

40. Milk                                                                                   15