Six kinds of nutrient, five food groups, one Nutrition Facts label, and a week of meals planned around what is on sale and what is already in the house. Study Cards teach the words, Helpful Hints holds the charts, the Practice Quiz checks you, and the Workshop puts a real label in your hands.
A bottle and a glass. The glass is the smaller one.
Serving size and servings per container are the first two lines of the Nutrition Facts label. Every number under them is the amount in one serving — not the amount in the container.
What people get wrong
⚠️People often think…
The calories on the package are the calories in the package.
Every number in the panel is for one serving. A 20-ounce bottle with an 8-ounce serving holds 2.5 servings, so the whole bottle carries 2.5 times every number below the top two lines — the sodium and the sugar along with the calories.
Multiply by the servings per container.
⚠️People often think…
Percent Daily Value tells you what percent of the food is that nutrient.
It is a percent of one day, measured against a 2,000-calorie day as the reference. Sodium at 13 percent means one serving carries 13 percent of a day of sodium — it does not mean the food is 13 percent salt. Rule of thumb: 5 percent or less is low, 20 percent or more is high.
Percent of a day, not percent of the food.
⚠️People often think…
Total Sugars and Added Sugars are the same line printed twice.
They are two lines. Total Sugars counts every sugar in the food, including the sugar already in milk or fruit. Added Sugars counts only what was put in during processing. Plain milk and 100 percent juice show total sugars and zero added sugars.
Added means someone put it in.
⚠️People often think…
The ingredient list is in the order the ingredients were mixed in.
It is in order of weight, the heaviest first. If sugar is the second ingredient, sugar is the second heaviest thing in the package. The first three ingredients are most of what is in there.
Order of weight, heaviest first.
Find the servings first
1Watch one
A 20-ounce bottle. The label says serving size 8 fl oz, servings per container 2.5, calories 110.
Serving size: 8 fluid ounces.
20 ÷ 8 = 2.5 servings.
The second line says 2.5 too.
110 calories is one serving.
110 × 2.5 = 275.
The whole bottle carries 275 calories. ✓
2Do one with me
Three questions about the same label.
The line you read first is the
The ingredient list runs from most to least by weight — yes or no
A little of a nutrient is a percent Daily Value of this number or less
💬One sentence, then you move on
Why does the serving size change what every other number on the label means?
3Try one
A snack says 12 g of added sugar per serving, and 2.5 servings per container. How many grams of added sugar are in the whole package?
I want a hint first
The second line of the label is servings per container: 2.5. Multiply the per-serving number by it.
💬Last one — then you are done here
Why can two packages show the same calorie number and still not hold the same amount of food?
Where this goes
Where this lives
A shelf tag with a unit price printed small under the price. Two snacks with the same calories on the front — and different servings per container on the back.
What this feeds
Next unit is Food Science — What Happens When You Cook. The label tells you what is in the package; cooking changes what happens to it.
Name one package in your kitchen and say how many servings it holds.
One card at a time — tap “Show me” to check yourself, then Next. Start at Foundation; when those feel easy, climb.
Helpful Hints
🧭 The unit in one line
Six nutrients → what each one is for → 4, 4 and 9 calories per gram → five MyPlate groups → read the label from the serving size down → read the ingredient list → check the unit price → plan the week around what is on sale and what is already in the house.
Every number on a Nutrition Facts label is a number for ONE serving. Find the serving size and the servings per container first, or every number under them means something different from what you think.
⚠️ Traps to avoid
A bottle is not a serving. A 20-ounce bottle can hold almost two servings, so the calories on the label are not the calories in the bottle.
Total Sugars and Added Sugars are two different lines. Plain milk and 100 percent juice have sugar but no added sugar.
Percent Daily Value is a percent of a day, not a percent of the food. Sodium at 13 percent does not mean the food is 13 percent salt.
The ingredient list is in order of weight, most first. If sugar is second, there is a lot of it.
The bigger package is not always cheaper. Compare the unit price — the price per ounce or per pound on the shelf tag.
Fat is a nutrient your body needs, not a mistake. The label separates saturated fat and trans fat because those are the ones to limit.
Nothing here is medical advice, and no number here is a target for any one person. A doctor or a registered dietitian sets those.
📐 The six nutrients — the chart
Nutrient
What it is for
Calories per gram
Where you find it
Carbohydrate
the body’s main fuel
4
bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, fruit, beans
Protein
builds and repairs muscle, skin, blood
4
meat, fish, eggs, beans, nuts, dairy, soy
Fat
stored energy, carries vitamins A, D, E and K
9
oils, butter, nuts, avocado, fish
Vitamins
help the body’s chemistry run
0
fruit, vegetables, whole grains, dairy
Minerals
bones, teeth, blood, nerve and muscle signals
0
dairy, greens, beans, lean meat, fortified cereal
Water
carries everything, cools the body
0
water, milk, fruit, vegetables, soup
🎯 How you will be asked
“Name the six classes of nutrients and say what each one is for.”
A label is shown — “how many calories are in the whole container?”
A percent Daily Value is given — “is that a little or a lot?”
Two packages, two prices, two sizes — “which is the better unit price?”
“Plan three dinners from this sale flyer and this list of what is already in the house.”
✅ Before the test, can you…
List the six nutrients and give 4, 4 and 9 for the three that carry calories?
Name the five MyPlate groups and say what half the plate should hold?
Say which vitamins are fat-soluble and which are water-soluble?
Read a label in order and use the 5 percent and 20 percent rule of thumb?
Explain why the ingredient list is in order of weight, and what that tells you?
Say in one line what a vegetarian, a vegan, a gluten-free and a lactose-free diet each leave out?
📚 Go to the sources
These open another website and need the internet. All four are United States government sites, free, with a Spanish button on the page.
Look back at anything you missed — the hint that appeared is exactly what to reread tonight.
How sure did you feel?
Workshop
Work like someone with a cart and a budget: read a Nutrition Facts panel line by line, graph the added sugars in seven drinks, sort fourteen foods by the nutrient they mostly are, then argue for one snack over another using the label.
Your practice never leaves this device. There is no account and no sign-in. Your work is saved in this browser only, and you can erase it whenever you want.
Your practice record — saved on this device
This is your record of the module on screen — it stays here and goes nowhere. Independent means you got it right on the first tap; supported means you got it after the explain-and-retry, or marked ‘I had it’ on a revealed answer. Both count, and neither is a grade. If your teacher asks, copy the row or show them this screen.
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Level
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Independent
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Supported
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Hints used
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Cards studied
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Lab
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Traps met
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Explained in own words
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Confidence
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The answer key is for a teacher: it prints only from here, for the unit on screen. Print the study packet prints the study pages and a blank quiz — never the answers.