Nutrients and what they do — questions

1. identify

Match each nutrient to its main job in the body.

Write the number of the matching option.

1. Adding bulk so food keeps moving through the gut
2. Healthy skin and gums, and helping wounds heal
3. Growth and repair of cells and tissues
4. Making haemoglobin, which carries oxygen in red blood cells
5. A source of energy
6. Hard, strong bones and teeth

• Carbohydrate: ______
• Protein: ______
• Vitamin C: ______
• Calcium: ______
• Iron: ______
• Fibre: ______

Nudge (only if you are stuck): Start with the two that are easy to place: which nutrient is in bones, and which is in the red substance of blood? Then: which gives energy, and which is never digested?

2. identify

Match each nutrient to a group of foods that is a good source of it.

Write the number of the matching option.

1. Wholegrain bread, vegetables and beans
2. Meat, fish and eggs
3. Butter, cooking oil and nuts
4. Bread, rice and potatoes

• Carbohydrate: ______
• Fat and oil: ______
• Protein: ______
• Fibre: ______

Nudge (only if you are stuck): Look at the picture of food groups and at the section on fibre in the reading. Only one of the four nutrients comes from plant cell walls.

3. identify

Match each vitamin or mineral ion to a group of foods that is a good source of it.

Write the number of the matching option.

1. Red meat, beans and dark green leafy vegetables
2. Oranges, blackcurrants and peppers
3. Oily fish such as sardines, and egg yolk
4. Milk, cheese and yoghurt

• Vitamin C: ______
• Vitamin D: ______
• Calcium: ______
• Iron: ______

Nudge (only if you are stuck): Look at the three pictures of vitamins and minerals in the reading.

4. identify

Why does a growing child need protein in the diet?

Circle one answer.

• As the main source of energy for running and playing
• To keep food moving through the gut
• For growth and repair: to build new cells and tissues
• To make bones and teeth hard

Nudge (only if you are stuck): What are new cells made of?

5. identify

Choose all the jobs that fats and oils do in the body.

Tick every correct statement.

• Carrying oxygen in the blood
• Making bones hard
• Moving food through the gut
• Insulating the body under the skin, so it loses heat more slowly
• A source of energy that can be stored
• Making cell membranes

Nudge (only if you are stuck): Think of what fat under the skin does, and what cells are surrounded by.

6. complete

Complete the sentences about vitamin D and calcium.

… makes bones and teeth hard and strong.

… is needed so the body can absorb calcium from food.

Vitamin D is also made in the skin in …

Nudge (only if you are stuck): One nutrient is in the bones; the other helps the body take it in.

7. state

Iron is a mineral ion. (a) Why does the body need iron? (b) Identify two foods that are good sources of iron.

(a) Why the body needs iron

(b) Two sources

Nudge (only if you are stuck): What do red blood cells carry, and what substance in them carries it?

8. explain

Fibre is not digested and does not pass into the blood. Explain why it is still an important part of the diet.

Nudge (only if you are stuck): Think about what fibre does while it is inside the gut.

9. identify

Choose all the reasons why the body needs water.

Tick every correct statement.

• It makes bones hard
• It releases energy when the body respires it
• It is a solvent: the chemical reactions in cells happen in solution
• It carries waste out of the body in urine
• Sweat cools the body as it evaporates
• It carries dissolved substances in the blood plasma

Nudge (only if you are stuck): Think of the blood, the urine, sweat, and what the chemical reactions in cells happen in.

10. identify

Which statement describes why the body needs vitamin C?

Circle one answer.

• It is the main source of energy
• It helps the body absorb calcium for strong bones
• It is used to make haemoglobin, which carries oxygen
• It keeps the skin and gums healthy and helps wounds to heal

Nudge (only if you are stuck): Vitamin C is the vitamin of skin, gums and healing.

11. interpret / explain

Part of the label of a carton of milk is shown in the table. (a) Which two nutrients on the label help to keep bones strong? Explain how each one helps. (b) A student says: "Milk is a protein food." Use the label to explain why that is only part of the story.

(a) Two nutrients for bones, and how each helps

(b) Why "a protein food" is only part of the story

Nudge (only if you are stuck): (a) One nutrient is in the bones; the other helps the body take it in. (b) Count the nutrients on the label.

12. explain

In the far north of Norway, the sun does not rise above the horizon for about two months in winter. Explain why people living there have long been told to eat oily fish such as herring and mackerel, or to take cod liver oil, in the winter.

Nudge (only if you are stuck): Where does the body usually get most of its vitamin D? What happens to that source in winter?

13. suggest

A vegan diet contains no meat, fish, eggs or dairy foods. Suggest one plant food (or a food made from plants) that could supply each of these nutrients: (a) protein, (b) iron, (c) calcium, (d) vitamin D.

(a) Protein

(b) Iron

(c) Calcium

(d) Vitamin D

Nudge (only if you are stuck): Look at the beans, the leafy greens and the plant drink in the reading pictures.

14. explain / suggest

A student goes on a two-week walking trip in hot weather. To keep her pack light, she takes only white bread, cheese, dried meat and boiled sweets, and she drinks only at the few water taps on the way. After a few days she is constipated, and on the hottest days she sweats a lot. (a) Explain why her food led to constipation. (b) Explain why she needs to drink more water on the hottest days. (c) Suggest two foods she could add that would help, and say how each one helps.

(a) Why she became constipated

(b) Why she needs more water on hot days

(c) Two foods to add, and how each helps

Nudge (only if you are stuck): (a) Which of her foods contain plant cell walls? (b) What does sweat do for her, and what does she lose with it? (c) Look for foods that bring fibre, water or both.