New
New
Year 5

Why we need energy and nutrients

I can explain why we need energy and name different nutrients.

New
New
Year 5

Why we need energy and nutrients

I can explain why we need energy and name different nutrients.

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These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. To be active and healthy, food is needed to provide energy for the body. 
  2. Different people need different amounts of energy, and different activities use different amounts.
  3. Food and drinks provide nutrients, fibre and water. They have different functions to keep us healthy.
  4. A wide variety of food is needed as different food provides different types and amounts of nutrients.

Keywords

  • Energy - derived from food and required for us to stay alive and function

  • Nutrients - substances that are essential for life, growth and health

  • Fibre - substances in food from plants that are resistant to digestion

  • Water - a colourless and odourless liquid, the basis of living things

Common misconception

Activity is about being sporty, being active.

Activity is all the things we do and movements we make, not only sports. It includes sports, but also reading, sleeping and watching TV.


To help you plan your year 5 cooking and nutrition lesson on: Why we need energy and nutrients, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Use food packaging to allow pupils to investigate the energy provided by different foods. Pupils could arrange the foods in order - from highest to lowest energy.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

Download quiz pdf

6 Questions

Q1.
Pick three foods from this food group:
An image in a quiz
eggs
sweetcorn
Correct answer: wholemeal bread
Correct answer: brown rice
Correct answer: boiled potatoes
Q2.
Which foods should we eat less often and in small amounts?
celery, apples and bananas
beans, eggs and chicken
Correct answer: cakes, biscuits and crisps
Correct answer: chocolate and ice cream
Q3.
True or false? We need a variety and balance of foods to stay healthy.
Correct answer: true
false
Q4.
The Eatwell Guide shows that we should have __________ a day.
2 - 4 drinks
4 - 6 drinks
Correct answer: 6 - 8 drinks
8 - 10 drinks
Q5.
Match the key messages to the foods:
Correct Answer:Have 5 A DAY,plums, okra

plums, okra

Correct Answer:Have with each meal,noodles, potatoes

noodles, potatoes

Correct Answer:Have two portions of fish every week,salmon, prawns

salmon, prawns

Correct Answer:Have some everyday,cheese, yogurt

cheese, yogurt

Correct Answer:Have occasionally and in small amounts,biscuits, cakes

biscuits, cakes

Q6.
Some people can have a bad reaction to a food; this is known as a food .
Correct Answer: allergy, allergies
Q1 © Crown copyright 2016, Public Health England in association with the Welsh Government, Food Standards Scotland and the Food Standards Agency in Northern Ireland

Assessment exit quiz

Download quiz pdf

6 Questions

Q1.
True or false? Being active is about being sporty.
true
Correct answer: false
Q2.
Food and drinks are the body’s source of .
Correct Answer: energy
Q3.
How much energy is provided by this food for one biscuit?
An image in a quiz
100 kJ or 15 kcal
251 kJ or 64 kcal
Correct answer: 351 kJ or 84 kcal
2063 kJ or 493 kcal
Q4.
True or false? The Eatwell Guide food groups provide different nutrients, so we need a variety of different foods.
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: true
false
Q5.
Which types of foods provide fibre?
milk and cheese
Correct answer: beans and pulses
eggs and fish
Correct answer: vegetables and fruit
Correct answer: potatoes and pasta
Q6.
The different substances that food and drinks contain that are needed to keep us healthy are __________, __________, __________.
Correct answer: nutrients
gases
medicines
Correct answer: fibre
Correct answer: water
Q4 © Crown copyright 2016, Public Health England in association with the Welsh Government, Food Standards Scotland and the Food Standards Agency in Northern Ireland