Food Counts
Brief Description:
Students will use a spreadsheet to calculate the
amount of calories they consume each day along with the number of
grams of fat and protein. They will compare this total to the
estimated amount of energy they burn each day.
Main Curriculum Area: Computer
Grade Level: Secondary
Approximate Time Required: 3 hours
Primary Goal and Objective: 3.1
Other Goals & Objectives from the NC
Standard Course of Study:
This activity aligns with the Health and Physical education
curriculum. This activity could be used as part of a Biology
course.
Other Subjects Covered: Healthful
Living, Science
Teacher's Lesson Goals/Objectives:
The students should understand the relationship
between the amount of energy they consume in each day and the
amount they use each day.
Materials/Resources Needed:
Access to calorie guides covering various foods.
Technology Resources Needed (computer hardware,
software, etc.):
Computer capable of using spreadsheet software
Software such as MS Excel or a package such as works.
Pre-Activities:
Explain the concepts of nutrition and energy use.
Activities:
Over the course of a week, students should record
the food they consume each day. They should also record the
activities they participate in each day. Students will then look
up calorie, fat and protein values of the foods they consumed.
This information will be entered into the spreadsheet template
(below). (Download the text file and open with a spreadsheet
program.) Students will also categorize the activities of each day
and enter the activity in the correct time of day. Finally, the
students will produce a chart showing the total energy consumed,
fat consumed, and energy expended. Students should be asked to
compare the level of energy use to the quantity of energy consumed
in the previous meal (for example, how much energy do you use from
dinner until breakfast compared to how much you eat at dinner).
Finally students should relate the number of calories to the
number of fat grams in each meal (which meals have the highest
energy value, which have the highest fat content?).
Assessment:
Accuracy of records combined with the student's
analysis of the results will be the basis for the assessment. The
goal is for the students to explain the relationship between
energy input and use.
Supplemental Resources / Information for
Teachers (handouts, background information, bibliographies, examples of
student work, etc.):
The enclosed templates are in excel and
tab-delimited text.
Relevant Web Sites:
http://www.ncat.edu/~schofed/its
Additional Comments from the Author of This
Lesson:
These materials were developed to support and
enhance the use of the 1998 K-12 computer/technology skills
standard course of study.
About the Author:
This lesson originally produced by Christopher I.
Cobitz (NCA&T State University) and Denise E. Hedrick
Permission has been obtained from the original authors.
Attachments (click to view or download):
