Flowers, Fruits and Vegetables
Learning Activities
An Apple a Day
Students will read words related to apples and find words that rhyme with each one. Students will use decoding skills to decode words related to apples. Students will read about apple trees and Johnny Appleseed. They will then complete comprehension pages to demonstrate their understanding of the reading passages. Students will taste apples and create a class graph to show which apple the most students like, as well as the least. They will write a sentence to describe their favorite apple.
The Art of Growing Things
Students will use seeds and plants to increase their vocabulary, conduct research, create a timeline and make presentations. They will observe plant growth habits in different locations in classroom and report their findings. Students will design and illustrate their own seed packets.
Asparagus: The Mighty Spear
Students will understand the nutritional value of asparagus and how it is grown in Oklahoma. Students will use asparagus as a manipulative to solve math problems. Students will paint with asparagus.
Bring on the Brassica Vegetables!lessons/cruciferous.pdf
Students will read about various vegetables in the Brassica family and answer comprehension questions. Students will test recipes using Brassica vegetables and determine their favorites. Students will use Brassica vegetables in art projects.
Be a Food Explorer
Students will try a variety of unfamiliar fruits and vegetables, research their origins and develop recipes.
A Bean is a Seed
Students will learn about germination by sprouting beans and caring for them in small necklaces which they keep around their necks.
Bubbles in the Cabbage Juice
Students will conduct experiments with cabbage juice as an indicator to identify carbon in a variety of substances.
By the Pound
The student will estimate the weight and cost of produce and calculate the actual price.
Case of the Missing Pumpkin
Students observe decomposition of a pumpkin.
Cool Cucurbits
Students will learn about the group of vegetables known as cucurbits (squash, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins) and use cucurbits in a variety of creative activities, mapping activities, math activities, scientific experiments and visual art.
Corn Cob Toys
Students will make toys from corn cobs and learn of the many uses for corn, both historically and today.
Eat Your Flowers
Students grow flowers in different soil types to determine the effect on flavor.
Fantastic Flower
Students learn the anatomy of a flower and play a game in which they act out the pollination process.
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Fields of Beans
All about legumes.
Fresh From the Farm
Student learn about farmer's markets and complete a survey to learn what kinds of produce is grown by local farmers and gardeners.
Fruit or Vegetable?
Students explore the difference between fruits and vegetables from different perspectives and develop their own definitions.
Garden Grid
Students will read about growing a garden and learn how much space each plant requires to grow. Using area and perimeter, students will create a grid and plan a garden, allowing sufficient space for each plant to grow. Students will construct newspaper pots and plant seeds or plants. They will devise experiments to see the effect they will have on plants and their growth. Students will create artwork depicting their favorite vegetables. Students will play a simple garden game as they scramble to get a chair.
Germination Observations
The students germinate seeds under a variety of conditions.
Good Grapes
Math activities with grapes, a fable and the growth cycle of grapes.
A Growing Market
The student will research and grow a plant and present findings orally.
A Hidden Beauty
Students construct a model of a plant that grows from a bulb.
How Far Did It Travel? Exploring the Geography of Food
Students compare the distances food travels from farm to table.
How to Pick the Best
Grades PreK-2: English Language Arts, Drama/Theater, Science, Social Studies, PE
Students will learn where common fruits and vegetables are grown and learn how to choose the best quality.
How to Pick the Best
Grades 3-5: English Language Arts, Visual Arts
Students will learn where common fruits and vegetables are grown and learn how to choose the best quality.
If Not for the Pollinators: Matching Flowers with Pollinators
Students match flowers to pollinators and construct models of flowers to demonstrate why different kinds of flowers need different kinds of pollinators.
In Strawberry Fields
Students learn about strawberry production and compute wages of strawberry workers.
Just Peachy
Students trace the migration of peaches, from China to Oklahoma, and read about the history of peach production in our state.
A Lending Hand
Students will read a story about Adam and how he earned money to buy a skateboard by selling vegetables he sold at the farmer's market. Students will learn how farmers finance their operations through the farm credit system.
Let's Get Together: Grafting Fruit and Pecan Trees
Students will read about the practice of grafting trees and plants and learn how it benefits production. Students will conduct a grafting experiment with tomato plants.
Melon Madness
All about all kinds of Oklahoma melons, with activities.
Melon Meiosis
Students will learn how seedless watermelon were developed and model the process of mitosis and meiosis in watermelons, using jelly beans.
Milk by the Gallon, Strawberries by the Quart
Students make a Scarecrow Conversion Chart and get practice converting units of measurement.
The Nightshades: Tomatoes, Potatoes and Pepppers
All about vegetables in the nightshade family.
Oklahoma's Berry Best
All about strawberries, blackberries, rasperries and blueberries.
- Smart Board Activity: Compare and Contrast (Need help?)Please be patient with us as we learn how to use this new technology.
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Oklahoma Stone Soup
Students learn a history of soup and make their own soup, following an Oklahoma version of the story "Stone Soup."
- Smart Board Activity: Sequencing (Need help?)Please be patient with us as we learn how to use this new technology.
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Oklahoma Roots and Leafy Greens (These Roots Run Deep)
All about roots and leafy greens.
Pairing Up With Pears
Students will read about pears and write creative narratives about the life of a pear. Students will read a folk tale about pears and answer comprehension questions.
Peas, Please
Students will learn about different kinds of peas that grow in Oklahoma. Students will identify the parts of the vegetables we eat as root, fruit or leaves. Students will use peas in pod for a variety of math activities. Students will compare and contrast different versions of the story "The Princess and the Pea." Students will grow peas.
Plant Parts We Eat
Students will read about vegetables and answer comprehension questions, write a sentence about vegetables, read Tops and Bottoms, by Janet Stevens, and create their own Tops and Bottoms gardens. Students will sort and categorize vegetables by parts (leaves, seeds, flowers, fruit, stems or roots). Students will plant a classroom garden and harvest vegetables. Students will create a garden journal and decorate it with vegetable prints. Students will measure, sort and weigh vegetables and classify them by geometric shape.
(Need help?)Please be patient with us as we learn how to use this new technology.
You must have Smart Notebook software installed on your computer to open Smart Board activities. If you have Smart Notebook software and are using Internet Explorer, you may get a message telling you the activity cannot be opened. In this event, save the activity to your hard drive. Your browser will save it as a zip file. Simply change the "zip" in the file name to "notebook," and you should be able to open it.
Thank you for your patience.
Smart Board Acitivity page
(Need help?)Please be patient with us as we learn how to use this new technology.
You must have Smart Notebook software installed on your computer to open Smart Board activities. If you have Smart Notebook software and are using Internet Explorer, you may get a message telling you the activity cannot be opened. In this event, save the activity to your hard drive. Your browser will save it as a zip file. Simply change the "zip" in the file name to "notebook," and you should be able to open it.
Thank you for your patience.
Smart Board Acitivity page
Powerful Potato
The student will observe the growth process of a potato.
A Priceless Collection
Students will read a dramatic story about the Russian plant breeder, Nikolai I. Vavilov, who faced starvation during World War II to protect a valuable collection of seed potatoes and other seed crops. Students will learn about present-day seed banks and their importance in maintaining and improving crops. Students will experiment with seed germination and record their observations.
Pumpkins by the Pound
Students use pumpkins of various sizes to experiment with weight and perimeter.
- PowerPoint
- Keynote
- Smart Board Activity: Fact and Opinion
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You must have Smart Notebook software installed on your computer to open Smart Board activities. If you have Smart Notebook software and are using Internet Explorer, you may get a message telling you the activity cannot be opened. In this event, save the activity to your hard drive. Your browser will save it as a zip file. Simply change the "zip" in the file name to "notebook," and you should be able to open it.
Thank you for your patience.
A Purple Cow
Students learn to identify colors in nature and to observe objects under varying light conditions.
Seed Swapping
Students will practice and review place values, using seeds as manipulatives.
The Sunny Sunflower Story
Students will create models of sunflowers and use them to demonstrate how plants grow in relation to light while learning about phototropism. Students will create sunflower paintings similar to Vincent van Gogh's famous Sunflowers painting. Students will practice recognizing similes while reading poetry. Students will learn what plants need to grow by listening and responding to the story of a sunflower. Students will write facts about the life cycle of a sunflower.
What's Organic?
Students will examine the different meanings of the word "organic."
Additional Resources
- Curtis' Botanical Magazine (old botanical prints from the National Agriculture Library)
- USDA Botanical Prints of Fruit
- More Facts
- Recipes
- Harvest of the Month Posters (fruits, veggies and pecans)