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New York Agriculture in the Classroom

Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix

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Edible Plant Game

This game incorporates the knowledge students have gained about plant parts with the fact that plants provide people with the nutrients and energy needed for a healthy lifestyle. This activity will be most beneficial if conducted with students after they have been taught the individual plant parts. 

Materials
  • Edible Plant Cards (28 cards printed on card stock. Found on pages 34-47 of attached PDF)
  • Colored Pencils
  • Edible Plant Game PowerPoint slides showing color photos of fruits and vegetables (pages 1-33 of attached PDF)
Procedures
  1. Show the Edible Plant Game slide show to the class (pages 1-33 of attached PDF). Discuss the description of each fruit or vegetable as you show each picture. Talk about how the fruit or vegetable is grown, what part of the plant is consumed, and what nutrients it provides. Explain to students that they will be playing a game based on the information from the presentation.
  2. Reproduce the Edible Plant Cards (pages 34-47 of attached PDF) on cardstock. Give one to each student and instruct them to color their plant card with colored pencils.
  3. You will need 28 participants for this activity. If you have fewer students, assign more than one card to several students. If you have more students, make extra copies of some of the cards.
  4. After students have colored the cards, collect them and shuffle them. Pass a card out to each student. Instruct students to form a large circle and hold their edible plant card in front of them.
  5. Begin the game by having one student read his or her question from the card aloud. The student who has the correct answer will hold his or her card up for the class to see and say, I am a _____________. Then that student will read the question from their card aloud to the class. Continue the game until all 28 cards have been shared.
  6. After the class has done the activity once, redistribute the cards so everyone has a new food. Do the activity again, this time a little faster!

Variation:  Make a set of 28 "Edible Plant Cards" for each group of four students. Have students play the game in small groups rather than as a whole class. 

Additional Ideas:

  • Take a trip to the produce section of a grocery store. Identify the produce as roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruit, and seeds.
  • Have the students keep a food journal for a week, recording the leaves, stems, seeds, flowers, roots, and fruit that they eat.
  • Make a KWL chart on the board and have the class brainstorm to fill in the things students Know, what they Want to know, and what they have Learned from the lesson.
File, Map, or Graphic
Author

Karen Chambers & Pamela Emery, Edited by Shaney Emerson & Michelle Risso

Organization
California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom
Sources

This activity was funded by a grant from the Network for a Healthy California.

Executive Director: Judy Culbertson
Illustrator: Erik Davison
Layout & Design: Nina Danner
Copy Editor: Leah Rosasco

Lessons Associated with this Resource