You Are What You Eat: Culminating Event

Americans spend billions of dollars trying to achieve their optimal level of health. Some individuals work to
become better athletes, building muscle mass and enhancing their endurance. Some individuals work to
maintain their healthy body composition. Others work to reduce their weight in order to improve their health.
Weight loss programs and “quick fix” diets often claim to provide an easy way to achieve a slimmer, trimmer,
healthier body. Many specialized diets include a restriction in the amount of sugar consumed by the individual.
Why is sugar targeted in many specialized diets?

Task: You will assume the role of a nutritionist and create a brochure to educate the public about the roles of
sugar in a healthy diet.

As you develop your brochure be sure to:

 Explain why humans need to eat food to survive
o List the macronutrients needed in a healthy diet
o AA only explain the function of each macronutrient in the body
 Describe the roles of sugars in the body
o Identify the atoms found in sugar
o Identify the class/type of macromolecule to which sugar belongs
 Compare the atoms found in sugar molecules and the atoms found in other carbon-based molecules in
the human body
 Describe how sugar is formed during photosynthesis
o Include the balanced chemical equation for photosynthesis
o Describe the transfer of energy that occurs during photosynthesis
 Describe how sugar is chemically broken down during cellular respiration
o Include the balanced chemical equation for cellular respiration
o Describe the transfer of energy that occurs during cellular respiration
o Describe how the energy released during cellular respiration is used in the human body
 Pick two specialized diets to describe in your brochure. For each diet:
o Identify the key features and/or restrictions of the diet
o Explain why a person would choose to follow this diet
o Explain how and why the amount and/or type of carbohydrates consumed are adjusted by this
diet
o Explain how this diet may be beneficial to some people but inappropriate for others.
o Two pros and two cons of the diet

Baltimore County Public Schools

Office of Science PreK-12 Revised 8/2/2020
 Culminating Event Success Criteria: You Are What You Eat

Success Criteria Feedback

Crosscutting Concepts
Energy and Matter
 Describe the energy transformations that occur
during photosynthesis and cellular respiration
 Describe how energy is used in the body
Patterns
 Show the conservation of atoms in chemical reactions
 Compare the atoms in sugar and the atoms in other
carbon-based molecules
Science and Engineering Practices

Constructing Explanations
Use valid and reliable sources of evidence from a
variety of sources to explain the key features and/or
restrictions of specific specialized diets
 Apply scientific ideas, principles and/or evidence to
explain why the amount and/or type of carbohydrates
ingested are affected by specific specialized diets
Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Scientific
Information
 Gather, read, and evaluate scientific and/or technical
information about specialized diets from multiple
reliable sources
 Evaluate the pros and cons of specialized diets
Developing and Using Models
 Describe how glucose is formed during
photosynthesis
 Describe how glucose is chemically broken down
during cellular respiration
Disciplinary Core Ideas
Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
(LS1.C) and Definitions of Energy (PS3.A)
 Describe the roles of sugar in the human body
 Include the chemical processes that form and break
apart sugar
 Describe the transfer of energy that occurs during
photosynthesis and cellular respiration
Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems (LS2.B)
Explain why humans need to eat food
Explain why a person would choose to follow a specific specialized
diet

Baltimore County Public Schools

Office of Science PreK-12 Revised 8/2/2020
Baltimore County Public Schools
Office of Science PreK-12 Revised 8/2/2020