What’s in YOUR Garden?
Gardens are as unique as the gardeners who create them. What will you plant in your garden this year?
You can introduce children to the wide variety of fruits and vegetables that grow in a garden by playing a guessing game. Here’s the first riddle:
Delicious, nutritious, what could it be?
In spring there are blossoms all over the tree.
Red, green, or yellow, with fruit that is round.
If you don’t pick it, it plops to the ground.
(The answer to this riddle and many others is found in the book What’s in the Garden? by Marianne Berkes. You’ll also find the answer to this riddle at the end of this post.)
LESSON PLAN: Name the Plant
In this activity, students solve fruit and vegetable riddles, learn about the six parts of a plant, and match the twelve fruits and vegetables in What’s in the Garden? to a specific plant part.
Suggested Grade Level: K-3
Materials:
- The book What’s in the Garden?
- Optional: the 12 fruits and vegetables mentioned in the riddles–apple, lettuce, broccoli, blueberry, celery, tomato, cucumber, onion, potato, corn, and pumpkin
Procedure:
Download complete directions available on the Dawn Publications website. The lesson includes suggestions for younger and older students.
Additional Resources
Easy-to-prepare recipes for each of the fruits and vegetables are included in the book, and bookmarks of all the plants are available on the Dawn Publications website, click the Activities tab and scroll to the bottom of the page.
Common Core Standards (ELA K-3)
- Reading: Literature–Key Ideas and Details (K.1, 2.1, 3.1); Craft and Structure (K.5, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5); Integration and Knowledge of Ideas (K.7, 1.7, 2.7, 3.7)
- Reading: Informational Text–Key Ideas and Details (K.1, 2.1, 3.1); Integration and Knowledge of Ideas (K.7, 1.7, 2.7, 3.7)
Next Generation Science Standards (DCI K-3)
- LS1: From Molecules to Organisms: A. Structures and Processes; B. Growth and Development of Organisms
- LS2: Ecosystems: A. Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics; B. Cycles of Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
- LS3: Heredity: A.Inheritance and Variation of Traits; B. Variation of Traits
ANSWER TO THE RIDDLE: apple