Unit 02 · Nutrients & the Science of Food
Nutrients are what food is made of and what the body runs on. This unit covers the macronutrients — carbohydrates, proteins, and fats — and the micronutrients — vitamins and minerals — what each one does, and why food is both energy and building material at the same time. You’ll learn to read nutrient content from a label and to reason with one key idea: no food is inherently unhealthy, because type and amount are what matter, not the category. Mastery means you can name the nutrients, read what a food provides, and back it up with evidence from the bench.
| Criterion | Not yet | Approaching | Mastered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Naming macronutrients & micronutrients | Cannot tell a macronutrient from a micronutrient or name examples of either. | Names carbohydrates, proteins, and fats but is unsure which nutrients count as micronutrients. | Names the three macronutrients — carbohydrates, proteins, and fats — and the micronutrients — vitamins and minerals — with examples of each. |
| What each nutrient does | Thinks all food does the same one thing in the body. | Knows nutrients have jobs but cannot match a nutrient to its role. | Explains that food is both energy and building material — carbohydrates and fats fuel the body, proteins build and repair, and vitamins and minerals keep the systems running. |
| Reading nutrient content | Cannot find the nutrients listed on a food's nutrition information. | Locates nutrients on a label but misreads the serving size or the amounts. | Reads a nutrition label accurately — serving size, macronutrients, and key micronutrients — and describes what the food provides. |
| Type and amount, not category | Sorts foods into “good” and “bad” and calls carbs or fats inherently unhealthy. | Senses that category labels are too simple but still leans on them. | Explains that no food is inherently unhealthy — that type and amount are what matter, not the category — and reasons about nutrients without judging foods or people. |
| Anchor lab (food-nutrient testing) | Skips the food-nutrient tests or records results with no evidence. | Runs a test or two but cannot say what each result reveals about the food. | Runs the food-nutrient tests — starch with iodine, sugar with Benedict’s solution, fat with a grease spot, vitamin C with indophenol — and reads each result as evidence of what a food contains. |
| Integration (cross-domain) | Treats the science as isolated facts; makes no cross-domain connection. | Names a link to history, reading, or writing but cannot defend why it matters. | Connects the unit across History · Reading · Writing — including the James Lind scurvy trial that first tied a missing nutrient to a disease — and defends why the connection matters. |
“The bread has starch, so iodine turns it blue-black; the grease spot from the chips shows fat. Carbs aren’t ‘bad’ and fat isn’t ‘bad’ — it’s the type and the amount that matter. Food is fuel and building material at once, and I can test for what’s actually in it.”
“Carbs are bad and fat is unhealthy, right? I think there are vitamins in food somewhere. I’m not sure how you’d even test for what’s in it.”
You demonstrate this unit by running the food-nutrient tests and reading real nutrition labels, then explaining what a food provides aloud — not a multiple-choice test. A criterion counts as mastered only when you can both gather the evidence at the bench and reason about nutrients without labeling foods “good” or “bad.” Mastery is demonstrated, not awarded.
A 5-page clipboard packet — unit overview, key terms, the mastery rubric, anchor examples, and a score sheet you can print and grade against.