Book Snapshot
• Title: The Science of Calories
• Genre: Nonfiction (informational science text)
• Subject: Science (Nutrition/Human Body)
• Primary Topic: What calories measure and how bodies use energy
• Estimated Guided Reading Level (A–Z): P

What This Book Teaches Best
• Defines energy as what living things need to survive and function, and connects energy to everyday examples like cars and lamps.
• Explains that a calorie measures energy in food (not weight or size) and describes it as a scientific unit of measurement.
• Shows how most energy starts with the sun, and how plants use photosynthesis to turn light into chemical energy stored in plant parts.
• Describes how the human body uses energy all the time (even during rest or sleep) to power the heart, lungs, and brain.
• Explains how food energy is released through digestion, how activity increases energy demand, and how extra calories may be stored as body fat.

Learning Goals
• Explain what energy is and why living things need it.
• Describe what a calorie measures according to the text.
• Explain how plants get energy from the sun and where that energy is stored in a plant.
• Describe how digestion helps the body unlock energy from food.
• Describe how physical activity changes the body’s need for calories.
• Explain what happens when more calories are consumed than the body needs for daily activities.

Key Vocabulary From the Text
• measurement — finding out how much of something there is.
• photosynthesis — plants use sunlight to make chemical energy.
• digestion — the process that unlocks energy in food.
• intestines — long tubes that help finish breaking down food.
• converted — changed from one form into another.

Discussion Prompts
• Pre-reading question: What do you think calories tell us about the food we eat?
• Comprehension questions: What does the book say a calorie measures?
• Comprehension questions: How does the book explain that plants capture and store energy from the sun?
• Comprehension questions: What does the book say happens when a person consumes more calories than needed for daily activities?

1. If “Booklet” Printing Is NOT Available
   You can still print this correctly with manual duplex printing.
   Step-by-step:
2. Open the PDF.
3. Choose Print.
4. Set:
   o Orientation: Landscape
   o Pages per sheet: 1
   o Print on both sides: Yes
   o Flip on: Short edge
5. Print all pages.
   Because each PDF page already contains two facing book pages, the result will still fold cleanly into a book.