HEALTH, FOOD, AND NUTRITION:

Getting Energy From Carbohydrates

CARBOHYDRATES LESSON

Directions:

Print the Getting Energy from Foods: Carbohydrates reading comprehension passage and questions (see below).

Students should read the passage silently, then answer the questions.  Teachers may also use the text as part of a classroom lesson plan.

Lesson Excerpt

Your body gets energy from three different things in the foods you eat. These are carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Each has a different job in the body, and you need all three to be healthy.

The main way your body gets the energy you need to run around and play and do your chores is by burning carbohydrates. There are two types of carbohydrates, simple and complex. Your body turns both kinds of carbohydrates into sugar. Sugar gives you energy. But you don't want too much energy too fast, which is why eating sugary foods like cake and candy is not the best way to get carbohydrates. The sugar from carbohydrates goes into your bloodstream. Then your body makes something called insulin, which moves the sugar into all of your cells. Your cells use the sugar for energy. If you eat too many high sugar foods, you will get too much sugar in your blood too fast. This can make you sick. Also, if your food is turned into sugar very quickly, you will be hungry again soon.

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