Carbohydrates a Math Lesson
Name - __________________________________Date -___________Class Period __________
READ INFORMATION AND REFER TO DATA IN GRAPHS TO ANSWER THE
QUESTIONS.(ANSWER IN COMPLETE SENTENCESTHAT ANSWER THE QUESTION
ASKED ON THE BACK OF THESE SHEETS. WHEN DONE RETRIEVE THE ANSER
SHEET FROM THE TEACHER TO CHECK AND CORRECT YOUR WORK AND
ANSWER THE QUESTION S ASKED ON PART2).
Carbohydrates are chemical compounds made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. They are an
essential nutrient for our bodies, and are found in fruits and vegetables and many other foods.
Carbs fall roughly into 2 groups: sugars and fiber. Nutritionists say that most Americans don’t
get enough fiber in their diet.
But how do you know how much fiber you’re eating? Many nutrition websites have information
about the percentage of sugars and fibers in a given food.
The pie charts below show what percentage of total carbohydrates are sugars and fiber in
different foods.
1. Take a guess at which food each pie chart represents match the pie chart with the food
– celery, jelly beans, almonds and apple juice.
The bar graph above shows how much of the total carbohydrate content in food is made up of
sugar. Use the information on the bar graph to identify the correct percentage of sugar that
makes up the total carbohydrates in each food.
2. What is the percentage of sugar in apple juice? In celery? In jelly beans? And
almonds?
Use the data to match the food with the correct percentage of fiber that makes up the total
amount of carbohydrates –
3. What is the percentage of fiber in apple juice? Celery? Jelly beans? And almonds?
The stacked bar graph and the pie charts on the right show the same information in different
ways. They all show the percentages of sugars and fiber that make up the total carbohydrates in
different foods. Use the information in the stacked bar graph to match each food with the correct
pie chart.
4. Which food goes with each pie chart? Whole wheat bagel? Chocolate bar? Orange? And
broccol
Packaged foods, from potato chips to canned peas, have labels with nutrition information that is
presented in a table.
When you read food labels, first look at the serving size and note the number of servings per
container. All the numbers on the label relate to 1 serving only.This label on a small box of
raisins shows that the box contains only 1 serving: 1/4 cup, or 40 grams, of raisins.
5. How many grams of total carbohydrate are in 1 serving of raisins?
6. How many grams of sugars are in 1 serving of raisins?
In addition to total carbohydrate, the amount of fiber and sugars per serving is also listed in
grams. “Sugars” can include refined sugar that is added to the food as well as sugars that are
naturally found in the food. The small box of raisins holds only 1 serving, so all the Nutrition
Facts numbers represent all the raisins in the box. But keep your eye on those serving sizes. Most
packaged foods contain more than 1 serving. For example, the serving size on a loaf of bread
may be only 1 slice. If you toast 2 slices for breakfast, you have to double the numbers.
The Nutrition Facts table on the right for soft pretzels shows the amount of nutrients in 1 pretzel.
If you eat more than 1 pretzel, you have to do some basic math to find out how many carbs
you’re eating.
7. How many grams of total carbohydrate are in 3 servings—that is, 3 pretzels?
8. According to the label, how much oatmeal is in 1 serving?
9. You’re feeling really hungry, so you pour 3 packets of instant oatmeal into your bowl.
According to the label, how many servings of oatmeal are you eating?
10. If you ate 4 servings of instant oatmeal, how many grams of fiber did you eat?
11. Audrey’s doctor wants her to keep track of the amount of carbs she eats. If Audrey eats 1
serving of instant oatmeal and 1 serving of raisins for breakfast, how many grams of total
carbohydrate will she eat?
12. How much fiber will Audrey get if she eats 2 servings of rolled oats and 1 serving of raisins?
13. Alex wants to get a lot of fiber, but limit his sugar his breakfast options are from the raisins
and the rolled oats . Which of the following should he eat for breakfast that gives him at
least 7 grams of fiber, but no more than 32 grams of sugar? Should he have 1 serving of
raisins and 1 serving of rolled oats? Or 2 servings of raisins and 1 serving of rolled oats? or 1
serving of raisins and 2 servings of rolled oats? Or 2 servings of raisins and 2 servings of rolled
oats?
As we’ve seen, the Nutrition Facts label lists the amount of total carbohydrate—which includes
sugars and fiber—in grams. How much is a gram? A packet of artificial sweetener weighs 1
gram.
If you add the prefix kilo- to the root word gram, you get a kilogram. A kilogram weighs 1000
times more than 1 gram. So the prefix kilo- means “1000.” 1 kilogram is about 2.2 pounds, about
the weight of a 1-liter bottle of soda.
14. How many grams are there in 2 kilograms?
It takes 1,000 grams to make a kilogram. So, 1 gram is a fraction of a kilogram. The prefix kilocan be attached to other units of measure. Meters measure distances, and for long distances we
can use kilometers.
15. The loop of a running rack is 1 kilometer long. If you ran around the track one time,
how many meters would you cover?
While it takes most people several minutes to walk or run a kilometer, centimeters and
millimeters are very small distances.
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Centi- is a prefix that means 1 one-hundredth (1/100 or 0.01)
Milli- is a prefix that means 1 one-thousandth (1/1000 or 0.001)
Kilo- means one thousand (1000)
16. Among millimeter, centimeter, meter, and kilometer, which is the smallest unit of
measurement?
17. There are 100 centimeters in a meter. There are 1000 meters in a kilometer. How
many centimeters are in a kilometer?
The prefixes we’ve learned show up on food labels, too. Lots of nutrients, like carbohydrates and
fiber, are measured in grams. Other nutrients, like sodium, are measured in milligrams (mg). 1g
= 1000mg
18. Shelley ate a big bag of pretzels that had: 50g carbohydrates and 200mg sodium.
How many grams is 200 milligrams? Write it as a decimal. Hint: Remember that 1mg =
0.001g. 200mg = how many grams?)
19. Andy ate the following food for breakfast:
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Banana: 30g carbs
Multi-grain toast: 15g carbs
Peanut butter, 2 tablespoons: 3g carbs
20. How many milligrams of total carbs did Andy eat? Write your answer as a whole
number. HINT: (You have to use addition and then multiplication. First, add up the number of
grams. Then multiply that the total number of grams by how many milligrams there are in a
gram.)