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Where do we get energy from?
Almost all energy, as far as we are concerned,
comes from the Sun. The Sun warms our planet and makes plants grow.
Plants are clever things because they can use the Sun’s energy not only to
make them grow, but also to store energy. Most plants make seeds, some of
which grow into new plants. Both animals and humans eat them - you know,
wheat seeds make bread; maize makes cornflakes and so on. This means you get
your energy from eating plants, or by eating other animals like cows which
have fed off plants. You can also get your energy from eating fish, which ate
smaller fish. Smaller fish ate shrimpy things which ate tiny plants called
plankton. This is called a food chain.
Our waste products eventually all go back to plants where they start the
cycle again, fuelled by energy from the Sun.
Four important questions and their answers:
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1. Where do we get energy?
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All of our energy for life comes from food.
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2. How do we get energy from food?
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Digestion breaks food down to nutrient molecules. Nutrient molecules
then move to all the cells in the body The process of respiration releases
all the energy stored in these molecules.
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3. Which foods give us the most energy?
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Foods high in fat contain the most energy.
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4. Where does food get energy?
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The Sun is the original source of all the
energy in our food.
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You can see an interactive video: “Where your
food comes from”:
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/food/
Click here and do the task:
Task
(Where do we get energy from?)
Finally, do this quiz to revise:
Food
quiz
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