LEGO Challenge - Metabolism

In this challenge, you’ll use Lego bricks to represent nutrients from a food label.

You will build a structure that mimics a meal, smash it apart to show the metabolism process, and rebuild it to demonstrate how the body uses these nutrients.

Step 1: Build the Lego Meal

1. Gather the food label: Choose a meal or packaged food item, like a sandwich or a snack, and look at its nutritional information.
2. Assign Lego colors to nutrients:
   • Blue bricks for carbohydrates (1 brick = 1 gram)
   • Red bricks for proteins
   • Yellow bricks for fats
   • Assorted colours for vitamins and minerals
3. Build the structure: Based on the food label, build a Lego structure using the number of blocks for each nutrient.
   • Example: If a food item has 30g of carbohydrates, 15g of protein, and 10g of fat, your Lego structure will have 30 blue blocks, 15 red blocks, and 10 yellow blocks, along with different colour blocks for any vitamins and minerals.

Step 2: Smash the Structure (Catabolism)

Once the meal is built, smash the structure to simulate the start of digestion with catabolism.

• Smash the structure: Use terms like:
  • "In the body, enzymes break down large, insoluble molecules like carbohydrates and proteins into smaller soluble molecules, like glucose and amino acids."
  • "Fats are broken down into glycerol and fatty acids."
• Explain the breakdown:
  • Carbohydrates (blue bricks) are broken down into glucose, absorbed for energy.
  • Proteins (red bricks) break down into amino acids, used to build new proteins.
  • Fats (yellow bricks) break down into glycerol and fatty acids, used for energy or stored as fat.
  • Vitamins and minerals (assorted colour bricks) support various body processes.

Step 3: Rebuild the Structure (Anabolism)

Now that the nutrients are broken down, rebuild them into structures the body can use, representing anabolism.

• Rebuild the structure:
  • Use blue bricks (glucose) to build glycogen for energy or cellular respiration.
  • Use red bricks (amino acids) to build proteins for muscle repair or enzymes.
  • Use yellow bricks to represent glycerol being stored for long-term energy.
• Explain the rebuilding process:
  • "During anabolism, the body uses small soluble molecules from digestion to construct new structures. Glucose is used for energy, amino acids for proteins, and glycerol for fat storage."

Scientific Key Words to Include:

• Catabolism: Breaking down large insoluble molecules.
• Anabolism: Rebuilding small soluble molecules into useful structures.
• Enzymes: Biological catalysts that break down food.
• Large insoluble molecules: Nutrients before digestion.
• Small soluble molecules: Glucose, amino acids, glycerol, etc.
• Glycogen: Stored glucose in muscles.
• Amino acids: Protein building blocks.
• Glycerol: Stored fat for energy.

Extension Challenge:

Try balancing your Lego structure to reflect a healthy meal. Compare the proportions of carbs, proteins, and fats, and discuss how an unbalanced diet could affect metabolism and energy levels.

Want to

• explore further with more Lego Challenges that show how diabetes and lactose intolerance can effect the digestive process?
• revise KS3 and GCSE science topics with model answers.

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Linked article:

Are you eating LEGO?

LEGO: the tiny plastic bricks keeping kids busy whilst terrorising parents. Sure, they’re great for cultivating creativity. But they’re also the leading cause of vacuum malfunctions and impromptu yoga sessions on the living room floor whilst fishing out those rogue pieces under the couch. And let’s not forget

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