Task 5

Materials and tools for a working group: 

• pictures of plants (for the whole class), fruits and vegetables (apple, grapes, carrots, peppers, tomatoes, onions, broccoli), knife (or teacher prepares pre-cut fruit and vegetables samples), plastic plates

At the beginning, the teacher will show the pupils different pictures of the plants and they discuss following questions: Which ones provide us with food? Which parts of the plants can be consumed? Do animals consume parts other than humans? The teacher directs the discussion towards the fruits and highlights the fact that the fruits contain seeds. In this activity, pupils investigate where the seeds come from. The task of the pupils will be to identify the different parts of the plants that one consumes and to determine whether they contain seeds. Based on this, pupils can identify whether it is a fruit or other part of the plant.

Pupils first write down their predictions about fruits and vegetables listed in the worksheet – their job is to determine whether they contain seeds or not. The teacher discusses with pupils about their predictions. Further they verify the predictions by observing particular fruit / vegetables. We recommend using real vegetables and fruits. The aim of the activity is not to identify whether it is a vegetable or a fruit, but that a person consumes different parts of a plant and it is not always a fruit.

If pupils did not find seeds in particular fruits/vegetables, they try to identify (searching online if needed) what part of the plant it is (e.g. broccoli = flower; carrot = root, etc.). At the end pupils use the encyclopedia or the Internet to search for different kinds of vegetables.