Nutrition in Grade 8 explores how food choices affect health, energy, and long-term well-being. Through inquiry, students ask how nutrients function, why diets differ across cultures, and what role food plays in disease prevention. Instead of memorizing food groups, they investigate balanced meals, analyze food labels, and reflect on personal habits. Activities such as meal planning, research projects, and debates about food production encourage responsibility and critical thinking. By linking nutrition to lifestyle, culture, and global issues, students learn that eating is not only about survival but also about balance, identity, and sustainability.
🟢 Starter
- Define nutrition in one sentence.
- List five essential nutrients.
- Write five examples of healthy snacks.
- Create a two-sentence explanation of a balanced diet.
- Reflect: why is water the most important nutrient?
- Identify five benefits of eating fruits and vegetables.
- Compare processed food and fresh food.
- Write a paragraph about breakfast importance.
- List five common vitamins and their functions.
- Write a reflection on how food affects mood.
- Create five examples of poor eating habits.
- Compare carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.
- Write a paragraph about hydration during sports.
- List five ways culture influences food.
- Reflect: how does family shape eating habits?
- Write five examples of unhealthy food marketing.
- Create a short description of food as energy.
- Compare short-term hunger and long-term malnutrition.
- Write a reflection on how food connects to identity.
- List five careers related to nutrition.
🟡 Practice
- Write a paragraph on how vitamins support growth.
- Create a chart comparing plant-based and animal-based diets.
- Research five effects of too much sugar.
- Write a reflection on why portion size matters.
- Compare fast food and traditional meals.
- Create a project about food waste.
- Write five strategies for healthy eating at school.
- Research how athletes design their diets.
- Write a persuasive paragraph about reading food labels.
- Create a poster about the dangers of dehydration.
- Compare organic and non-organic food.
- Write a reflection on how advertising influences choices.
- Research five consequences of poor nutrition.
- Create a guide for planning balanced lunches.
- Write a paragraph about nutrition and learning.
- Compare cultural diets and their health impacts.
- Write a reflection on how eating habits affect the environment.
- Research five careers in dietetics.
- Create a project on global hunger.
- Reflect: how does nutrition connect to long-term health?
🔴 Challenge
- Write an essay on the importance of nutrition in society.
- Research how malnutrition affects global development.
- Debate: should schools ban junk food?
- Create a project on sustainable food systems.
- Research five diseases linked to poor nutrition.
- Write a persuasive essay about healthy eating campaigns.
- Compare traditional diets and modern processed diets.
- Write a reflection on how nutrition affects mental health.
- Research how climate change impacts food supply.
- Debate: should governments regulate sugar and fat in foods?
- Create a presentation on world hunger solutions.
- Research five scientific discoveries about human nutrition.
- Write a short story about a future with no healthy food.
- Compare nutrition needs of teenagers and adults.
- Write a reflection on how technology changes food production.
- Research how nutrition affects sports performance.
- Write a poem about food and health.
- Debate: is a vegetarian diet healthier than a meat-based diet?
- Write an essay on nutrition and sustainability.
- Propose five new ways schools can make nutrition engaging.