The water on the earth continuously cycles and recycles.  It may take thousands of years to do so but, nevertheless, it is the same water recycling over and over. This lesson teaches students that fact and the details of the water cycle.

Students will sort fruits and vegetables by examining plants – grown in the school garden, purchased in the market, or featured in models or pictures – into the parts of the plant eaten as food, identify a serving size, and locate where on MyPlate the food belongs.

Students will become familiar with the foods they eat and healthy eating habits while learning about the MyPlate food categories.

Students create a rap song/chant and dance promoting the components of their favorite salad, and use chant as a device to remember that plants do not eat and only plants produce food.

Students will match vegetable seeds with the vegetable and learn a basic food fact about each then participate in a relay.

The way we plant seeds is very important. If seeds are planted too deeply, the young plants can use up their food resources before they ever reach light and begin to make their own food. If planted in soil that’s too dry, seeds may not obtain the necessary moisture to germinate. Soaking-wet soil, on the other hand, may prevent seeds from getting oxygen, or may cause them to rot.

A significant reason to engage in gardening in schools is to teach students, and allow them to discover for themselves, how plants grow and what part of the plant we eat. That is the purpose of this activity.

Students examine variations in leaves and consider how leaf adaptations can help plants survive in different environments.

Students compare their own similarities and differences. They then grow and compare several varieties of lettuce plants to explore variations within the same type of plant.

Grouping things with similar characteristics helps us make sense of our world.

This activity introduces what influences students’ own food choices and those of people in different cultures.