1. What’s in our garden and how does it grow?
Goal: To learn how fruits and vegetables grow and are categorized
Objectives: The kids will be able to:
• Identify the basic needs of a plant
• Identify the parts of a plant- root, stem, leaf, and flower
• Create simple tables and graphs and interpret them
Before the lesson: Gather fruits and vegetables to serve as examples
Guide and Materials:
• Guide: Fact sheet
• Materials: fruits & vegetable examples,
pencils & paper
Background Information:
In order for children to understand where their food comes from, it is important that they understand the how things grow. The children need hands on experience in the garden to better understand that plants are alive and can vary in shape, colour, and in how they grow. Finally, the children will be able to better determine whether
something is a fruit or a vegetable.

2. Have the children draw their own chart (or 1 large class chart) to
Lesson Plan
1. Plant Categories:
Have the children draw their own chart (or 1 large class chart) to
organize fruits and vegetables into the parts of the plant that they represent:
Title: What part of the plant am I eating when I eat________?
Leaf
Flower
Fruit
Seed
Steam
Root
lettuce
broccoli
tomato
beans
asparagus
potatoes
spinach
cauliflower
strawberry
peas
celery
carrots
kale
Chamomile tea
peaches
peanuts
turnip
chard
apple
coffee
beets
onion
oatmeal
ginger
Leaf
Flower
Fruit
Seed
Stem
2. Functions of plant parts. How are the plant parts different? Where are they located?:
Which part allows the plant to absorb water and other nutrients?
Which part allows the plant to continue on to make more plants?
Which plant part do you think you eat the most? The least?
3. Use the Fact Sheet to explain more specifics about fruits and vegetables throughout the lesson.

3. FACT SHEET: Fruit or Vegetable? Fruits
Part of the plant the develops from the fertilized ovary
Has the seed (or seeds) inside
Examples: Berries, apples, oranges, avocados, pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers, & cucumbers
Vegetables
The edible parts of plants that are not the fruits or seeds
Examples:Carrots, beets, spinach, kale, asparagus, & onions
Components necessary to make your garden grow:
Air, water, light, nutrients (basic needs of plants)
Parts of the plant
Roots- form below the ground and act as an anchor for the plant, providing support and allowing for absorption of water and nutrient
Stem- supports that leaves and flowers and allows passage of water and other nutrients from the roots to the leaves
Leaf- the site of photosynthesis
Flower- site where pollination occurs (contains organs for sexual reproduction)
Seed- a fertilized ovule that contains the necessary information for formation of a new plant
Fruit- holds/protects the seed(s)