Good Learning Co.
SavannahYear 8
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ScienceThe human body24 min★★ difficulty

Diet, health and deficiency

A balanced diet is a balancing act between energy in, energy out, and the right mix of nutrients — get it wrong for long enough and the body shows it.

Part of your national curriculum
  • Biology: structure and function: Understand the content of a healthy human diet and the consequences of imbalances, including obesity, starvation and deficiency diseases

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Understand the content of a healthy human diet and the consequences of imbalances, including obesity, starvation and deficiency diseases

Key learning points

  • • Components of a balanced diet
  • • Too much energy
  • • Too little, or the wrong nutrients

This lesson at a glance

  • 24 minutes
  • 14 parts to scroll through
  • 3 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

healthyconsequencesimbalancesobesitystarvation

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 14 · Discover7%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 14

Watch first

Diet, health and deficiency

An English teaching video on this topic from Explore Planet English. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Understand the content of a healthy human diet and the consequences of imbalances, including obesity, starvation and deficiency diseases

2

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 14

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · Components of a balanced diet

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

3

Explore the idea

Part 3 of 14

Learn

Components of a balanced diet

A healthy diet contains carbohydrates and fats for energy, proteins for growth and repair, and small amounts of vitamins and minerals for specific body processes, plus fibre for digestion and water to stay hydrated.

4

Explore the idea

Part 4 of 14

Learn

Too much energy

If energy intake from food consistently exceeds energy used by the body, the excess is stored as fat, leading to obesity over time. Obesity increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and joint problems.

5

Quick check

Part 5 of 14

Quick check

What happens if energy intake regularly exceeds energy used?

6

Reset break

Part 6 of 14

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
7

Quick check

Part 7 of 14

Quick check

Which deficiency causes scurvy?

8

Learning cycle

Part 8 of 14

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · Too little, or the wrong nutrients

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

9

Explore the idea

Part 9 of 14

Learn

Too little, or the wrong nutrients

Starvation, from too little food energy, causes muscle wasting and weakened immunity. Specific deficiencies cause named diseases: too little vitamin C causes scurvy, and too little vitamin D or calcium can cause weak, soft bones (rickets in children).

10

Quick check

Part 10 of 14

Quick check

What is a health risk linked to obesity?

11

Challenge round

Part 11 of 14

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

12

Challenge round

Part 12 of 14

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

A ____ diet contains carbohydrates and fats for energy, proteins for growth and repair, and small amounts of vitamins and minerals for specific body processes, plus fibre for digestion and water to stay hydrated.

If energy intake from food consistently exceeds energy used by the body, the excess is stored as fat, leading to ____ over time.

____, from too little food energy, causes muscle wasting and weakened immunity.

13

Mastery quiz

Part 13 of 14

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Diet, health and deficiency

3 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. What happens if energy intake regularly exceeds energy used?

  2. 2. Which deficiency causes scurvy?

  3. 3. What is a health risk linked to obesity?

14

Lesson round-up

Part 14 of 14

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Case study

Why the school greenhouse failed

A science club grew tomato plants in the school greenhouse. In June the plants grew well: leaves were dark green and the fruit set quickly. In July the club went away for two weeks and left the greenhouse door shut. When they came back, the leaves were curled and pale and most of the fruit had dropped.

The club had a data logger inside. It showed the temperature reached 46 °C on several afternoons and the soil moisture fell close to zero. The club knew photosynthesis needs light, water and carbon dioxide, and that enzymes in a plant work best in a narrow range of temperature. Above that range the enzymes stop working properly.

The club repeated the summer with the door propped open and a water bottle drip on each pot. Temperature peaked at 31 °C and the plants survived.

Written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Name the variable the club changed the second time, and one variable they kept the same.
  2. Explain, using the words photosynthesis and enzymes, why the plants were damaged in July.
  3. Write a conclusion for the club's report, saying how far the evidence supports it.

  • Method and results

    Writing

    Write the aim, what you changed, what you measured and what you kept the same, then record your results in a table.

    1 page + results table

  • Conclusion

    Writing

    Explain what your results show and why, using the scientific words from the lesson. Say how you know you can trust them.

    6–8 sentences

  • Labelled diagram

    Diagram

    Draw the apparatus or the process in pencil, label it fully, and photograph it.

    1 labelled diagram

  • Reading and notes

    Reading

    Read the lesson text again and write the key ideas in your own words.

    Half a page of notes

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 14 · Watch & discover

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    Understand the content of a healthy human diet and the consequences of imbalances, including obesity, starvation and deficiency diseases

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