CTET · Study & Practice

Food (Classes VI-VIII)

AreaScience & Pedagogy DifficultyEasy to Moderate CTET weightage2-4 questions in CTET Paper II Science, plus pedagogy items on how to teach nutrition and food concepts

Food is the friendliest unit in the CTET Paper II Science syllabus and an easy place to bank marks, but only if you read the questions carefully. CTET rarely asks a flat definition. Instead it gives you a deficiency symptom and wants the missing nutrient, names a food and wants the nutrient it is richest in, or drops you into a Class 7 classroom where a child insists that vegetables come from animals and asks how you would correct the idea. The chapter pulls together everything across Classes 6 to 8 on what food is made of, where it comes from, why a balanced diet matters, and how we stop food from going bad. Get the nutrient-to-function and deficiency-to-disease pairings cold, because that is where most of the marks sit, and keep one eye on the pedagogy angle: the examiner often cares less about the fact itself and more about whether you can teach it through a child's own meals, a chart, or a simple food test.

Topics

1 Components of Food and Nutrients 4 worked · 4 practice · 8-Q MCQ test Start → 2 Sources of Food: Plants and Animals 4 worked · 4 practice · 8-Q MCQ test Start → 3 Balanced Diet and Deficiency Diseases 4 worked · 4 practice · 8-Q MCQ test Start → 4 Food Spoilage and Preservation 4 worked · 4 practice · 8-Q MCQ test Start →

⚡ Smart tips & memory hooks

Memory hooks and exam-smart tips to lock this chapter in and answer CTET MCQs quickly and accurately.

  • Nutrient-to-job in one breath: Carbohydrates = energy, Proteins = body-building, Fats = energy STORE (most energy per gram), Vitamins/minerals = protective.
  • Deficiency chant - "A night, C gums, D bones, iron blood, iodine neck": Vit A -> night blindness, Vit C -> scurvy (gums), Vit D -> rickets (bones), iron -> anaemia (blood), iodine -> goitre (neck/thyroid).
  • Protein crash word: Kwashiorkor = severe protein deficiency. (K for Kwashiorkor, K for "no protein chakka".)
  • Food tests: Iodine -> blue-black = STARCH; oily translucent mark on paper = FAT.
  • Potato traps you - it is a STEM (has eyes/buds), not a root; honey is an ANIMAL source though bees take nectar from flowers.
  • Preservation = stop microbes: heat kills, cold/freeze slows, drying removes water, salt/sugar pull water out (osmosis), airtight cans keep air out.

⚠️ Common mistakes & traps

CTET loves to test these exact confusions. Internalise each trap before exam day.

  • Saying fats give the least energy - in fact fats give MORE energy per gram than carbohydrates and are the body's energy store.
  • Swapping Vitamin C and Vitamin D diseases - scurvy is Vitamin C (gums), rickets is Vitamin D (bones).
  • Confusing iron and iodine deficiencies - iron -> anaemia, iodine -> goitre.
  • Calling the potato a root - it is an underground STEM; only carrot/radish here are true roots.
  • Believing refrigerated or boiled food never spoils - cold only slows spoilage; preservation is not permanent.
  • Treating all microbes in food as harmful - useful microbes ferment curd, idli and bread.

📈 CTET exam insight & PYQ analysis

In CTET Paper II Science, Food reliably yields 2-4 questions, and they cluster in predictable spots. The biggest hitter is the deficiency-to-disease match (give a symptom such as night blindness, bleeding gums, swollen neck, weak bones, or pallor, and pick the missing nutrient). Close behind is nutrient-to-function/source (which nutrient builds the body, which gives the most energy, which food is the best protein source). Sources of food brings the potato-is-a-stem and honey-is-animal traps, and which plant part we eat. Preservation questions ask how a named method works (salt and osmosis, drying, pasteurisation) or test the fridge-spoilage misconception. The pedagogy slice is real here: expect items on how to teach balanced diet through a local food chart, how to correct a child's food misconception, or how a food-test activity (iodine for starch) supports inquiry-based learning over rote definitions.

🎴 Flashcards — instant recall

Tap a card to reveal the answer. Drill these until they are automatic.

Which nutrient is the body-building nutrient?Tap to reveal
Proteins (dal, eggs, fish, milk, soyabean)
Which nutrient gives the most energy per gram and stores energy?Tap to reveal
Fats
Night blindness is caused by deficiency of which vitamin?Tap to reveal
Vitamin A
Scurvy (bleeding gums) is caused by deficiency of?Tap to reveal
Vitamin C
Rickets (weak, bent bones) is caused by deficiency of?Tap to reveal
Vitamin D
Anaemia is caused by deficiency of which mineral?Tap to reveal
Iron
Goitre (swollen neck) is caused by deficiency of?Tap to reveal
Iodine - prevented by iodised salt
Severe protein deficiency in children causes?Tap to reveal
Kwashiorkor
Iodine solution turning blue-black tests for?Tap to reveal
Starch (a carbohydrate)
Is the potato a root or a stem?Tap to reveal
An underground STEM (has eyes/buds)
How does salt preserve food?Tap to reveal
It draws water out (osmosis) so microbes cannot grow
What is a balanced diet?Tap to reveal
All nutrients in the right proportions for the body's needs

📌 Quick revision

Food is built from nutrients: carbohydrates (energy), proteins (body-building), fats (energy store, most energy per gram), plus protective vitamins and minerals, roughage and water - with iodine testing starch and an oily mark testing fat. Food comes from plants (we eat roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds - mind that potato is a stem) and animals (milk, eggs, meat, fish, honey), with plants the ultimate producers. A balanced diet supplies all nutrients in the right proportion; long-term shortages cause deficiency diseases - Vitamin A/night blindness, Vitamin C/scurvy, Vitamin D/rickets, iron/anaemia, iodine/goitre, protein/kwashiorkor. Food spoils through microbes helped by warmth and moisture, and we preserve it by killing or slowing them: heating, refrigeration, drying, salting and sugaring (osmosis), oil/vinegar, chemicals and canning. For teaching, ground every idea in children's own meals and simple food tests, and correct the common misconceptions (fat is all bad, potato is a root, the fridge stops spoilage forever).

Chapter test

📝 Food (Classes VI-VIII) — Chapter Test
25 fresh questions · timed · full solutions
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📚 Want the full concept lesson?

This chapter gives you the CTET-focused recap, pedagogy and exam-style practice. For the underlying concept taught step by step — worked from the ground up with diagrams — open the matching lesson in our school Maths course.

🔗 See the full lesson in our Class 6-8 Science course
Optional deep-dive · full Class 6–8 teaching · diagrams & worked steps
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🏆 Vidaara CTET success checklist

You have truly mastered Food (Classes VI-VIII) when you can tick every box below.

  • Recall every formula in this chapter without looking them up
  • Solve each topic’s practice set with at least 80% accuracy
  • Use the chapter shortcuts to cut your solving time in half
  • Spot and avoid every common trap listed above
  • Score 80%+ on the timed chapter test

📋 Chapter mastery scorecard

Track where you stand. Aim for the target before moving to the next chapter.

Skill checkpointTarget
Concept theory & formulas understood100%
Topic practice sets attempted (4 topics)4/4
Best topic-test score— → 80%+
Chapter test score— → 80%+
Flashcards drilled to instant recall12 cards