Elisabeth Rodriguez

NUTR 592

I. Lesson Title: Iodine and it’s role in the human body

II. Lesson Description: Students will learn about iodine, where they can find
iodine and its role in the body.
III. Learning Objectives:
a. Students will learn what a trace mineral is.
b. Students will learn about what iodine is.
c. Students will learn what foods they can find iodine.
d. Students will learn why iodine is important for the metabolism.
IV. Lesson:
a. Introduction:
i. Activity:
1. Finding the thyroid hormone on your neck.
a. Touch your throat in the Adam's apple area with
one finger and the top of your breastbone (the flat
bone that runs down the middle of your chest) with
another finger. The thyroid is in that small space in
between your fingers. It bobs up and down when
you swallow.
ii. Discussion:
1. Ask what they know about iodine.
b. Lesson (20 min):
i. Mineral: a naturally inorganic chemical compound. Another
example could be salt.
ii. Iodine: a trace mineral needed for optimal function of the
metabolism.
iii. Metabolism: chemical reactions that take place in the body. The
metabolism controls different processes in the body and monitors
the rate at which it happens. Thousands of metabolic reactions
occur all over the body that include processes such as the
breakdown of food, the heating of your body when it’s to cold, or
moving and growing.
iv. Thyroid: a gland that sits in front of your windpipe that secretes
chemicals called hormones. These hormones are necessary for
growth and controlling the body’s metabolism.
v. Hormone: Hormones are chemicals that are made by different
glands that stimulate an action on a different part of the body such
as the brain. For example a gland in your brain creates a hormone
that makes your legs, arms and bones grow. The body has
thousands of different hormones that travel in the blood to
stimulate different actions.
vi. Thyroid hormone: hormones that are released by the thyroid
gland
 vii. Pituitary gland: releases hormones that control other glands such
as the thyroid. It releases a hormone called thyroid-stimulating
hormone to control the release of thyroid hormones in the thyroid.
viii. Thyroid stimulating hormone: the hormone released by the
pituitary when the thyroid is not making enough of the thyroid
hormone.
ix. T3: The form of the thyroid hormone that is operating
x. T4: Converts to T3
V. Minerals:
a. Minerals are inorganic elements that are found in soil and water and must
be consumed by animals or absorbed by plants. Some minerals are needed
in larger amounts such as calcium, which is needed for growth and bone
health. Other minerals are needed in smaller amounts such as chromium,
copper, iodine, iron, selenium, and zinc. These are considered trace
mineral, needing only small amounts everyday. Iodine is also one of these
minerals because it is only needed in small amounts.
b. Minerals cannot be made in the body but must be consumed
VI. What iodine is, where one can find it and why it’s needed?
a. Iodine is a trace mineral found in areas near the ocean, most plentiful in
seawater. You can find it seafood, milk products, foods grown near the
ocean, potatoes, eggs, chicken, beef, fish and cheese. Iodine is necessary
to create thyroid hormones in the thyroid gland. These hormones are
called T4 thyroxine and T3 trioodothryonine. These hormones are involved
in controlling metabolism and growth, such as growth in the brain of a
baby. The metabolism
VII. What the Thyroid Is:
a. When thinking about how the thyroid functions, think about how your
body reacts when it’s hungry. When you’re hungry your body tells you
through stomach pains that you are hungry, in a similar way when there
are low levels of thyroid hormone the pituitary gland signals the thyroid
that it needs more thyroid hormone. When there’s to much hormone being
produced, the pituitary gland stops telling it to release the hormone. If it’s
making just the right amount of hormone, everything is balanced.