Nutrition in Animals

Syllabus tag: KCSE | Biology | Form 1 | Topic 6 Nutrition in Animals

Lesson objectives

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

• State the modes of heterotrophic nutrition and the classes of food.
• Describe dentition in a named mammal and relate teeth to diet.
• Describe digestion in the human alimentary canal.
• Explain absorption, assimilation and the causes of deficiency diseases.

Summary

Animals are heterotrophic, taking in ready-made food. A balanced diet supplies carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, vitamins, mineral salts, water and roughage. Digestion breaks large insoluble molecules into small soluble ones that can be absorbed — carbohydrates to glucose, proteins to amino acids, lipids to fatty acids and glycerol. Teeth are shaped by diet, which is why herbivore and carnivore dentition differ so sharply.