The difference between human nutrition and plant nutrients is often one of the concepts that students misunderstand. This is proven in documented errors found in standardized test questions. Students hear the term “plant food” and take that term literally, believing that plants eat (as animals do) to obtain nutrients. The intent of this lesson is to clear up that misconception as well as to teach students about the actual nutrients that plants require and the source of those nutrients.

Student will collect personal meal consumption data, align those foods to the food guide food groups, and cross reference that information with the MyPlate to compare personal eating habits and to recommended guidelines. Students also will use that information to create their own food web.

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

Using the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s “Nutrient Database,” the students will compete to predict which vegetables or fruits grown in the school garden contain the highest levels of specific nutrients, graph the results and research the value of those nutrients to their growth and health.

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.

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. Understanding the food storage function of a specific plant part will aid in understanding the nutrition provided by that plant part.

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

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

Students participate in creating a food product, identify and explain the steps in production, and describe the influence of those steps in the cost of the item.

Students will evaluate their meal selections, determine the caloric content and evaluate eating and exercise options to maintain a healthy weight.