Nutrient

High school (ages 12+)
Human Body

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/nutrient

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What are nutrients and why do living things need them?Nutrients are tiny building blocks that help living things survive, grow, and play. They give energy and help make the parts of cells and bodies. All animals, plants, fungi, and even tiny protists need them.
2. How do animals get the nutrients they can't make themselves?Animals must eat foods that contain special amino acids, fats, vitamins, and minerals that they cannot create on their own. They get these from other living things or from the food they eat.

Autotroph: An organism that can produce its own food, usually using light or chemical energy.
Heterotroph: An organism that cannot produce its own food and must obtain energy by consuming other organisms.
Metabolic Pathway: A series of chemical reactions occurring within a cell that are catalyzed by enzymes.