Your Burger and The World

Food energy input and energy output: It's a balancing act.

Record Sheet
Name ___________________________________Date: _______________

Arctic explorers must understand how exercise and diet work together to help the body balance energy input and energy output, as they burn between 4,000 - 6,000 calories per day in order to meet their minimum energy needs. That means that they have to eat more than two pounds of food per day! They must choose an endurance diet because they use so many calories; but the calories must be released slowly from the food instead of in a quick burst or they will run out of energy.

What about your energy needs? How many calories do you need when you play soccer, hang out with your friends, or take a test? What about clicking the TV changer or taking a nap? How do diet and exercise affect your ability to perform each day? What happens when your energy input and your energy output are not balanced? What if energy input is greater than energy output or vice versa?

You are a consumer in a food chain which means that you transform energy just as the other organisms do. As energy moves up the food chain from organism to organism, almost 90% of it is lost as heat to the environment at each level. That means only 10% is available to be used by the organisms at the feeding level above them. When you eat food, where does the 90% go? For example, only 10% of the energy in an apple is usable energy for you. In this activity, you will find out how many calories you burn during a particular activity. The number of calories you need and how long you need them can help you decide what foods will best provide those calories for you.

Directions:
In this activity, you will estimate how many calories you burn during certain types of exercise.