What fruits are in season where you live? Are they grown without harmful chemicals? Draw a picture of your favorite fruit, like these luscious strawberries, fresh from a farmer’s market or in your own garden.

• 1.

  What do you like about eating fruit? Is it the bright colors? The sweet, juicy taste? Or could there be some things—like vitamins—that you don’t see or taste that make fruit a healthy food choice?

• 2.

  Many farmers use chemicals to keep their produce fresh and free of bugs and disease. Some of these chemicals may not be very safe for people, other living things, and the Earth’s environment. Sometimes if fruits and vegetables have to be shipped a long way, they are treated to keep them fresh.

• 3.

  How can you make sure that the things that you eat are good for you and the environment? One way is know how farmers grew their crops. Another way is to grow your own fruits and vegetables in a garden or orchard. Is there a farmer’s market where you live? Does your grocery store identify local farms as sources of their produce? Who do you know that raises a garden?

• 4.

  Find out about produce grown at local farms and from far-away places. If possible, compare how the fruits look, taste, and cost. Learn what terms such as natural, organic, and pesticide-free really mean so you can make wise food choices.

• 5.

  With Crayola Markers, draw one or more of the yummy fruits that you enjoy eating. Show their textures and colors when they are ripe. You might even draw them growing in a field, just before they are picked. How many different fruits did your classmates choose?

Standards

• LA: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grade level topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
• SCI: Ask questions about the natural and human-built worlds.
• SCI: Construct drawings or diagrams as representations of events or systems.
• VA: Use visual structures of art to communicate ideas.
• VA: Select and use subject matter, symbols, and ideas to communicate meaning.

Adaptations

• Possible classroom resource includes: Fruit Is A Suitcase For Seeds by Jean Richards;
• Invite a local farmer to meet with the class and discuss growing fruit, how the fruit are treated to keep it fresh, etc. Students provide questions for the visitor. After the meeting, students discuss their learning in small groups.
• Plan a field trip to a local grocery store and meet with the produce manager. Students pose questions about how fruits are shipped, what is done to keep them fresh during transit, etc. Students discuss their learning upon returning to the classroom and create a chart of new information gathered.