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Watch and Discuss: Planting Project

Children plant tomatoes and sunflowers and watch them grow.

Materials

  • Planting Project (video)

Key Science Concepts

  • Many of the foods we eat come from plants.
  • We eat certain leaves, roots, fruits, and seeds.
  • Fruits have seeds.

Directions

Before you watch: Tell the group they are going to watch a video about children growing tomatoes and sunflowers.  Ask, Has anyone seen a garden that grows plants we can eat? What kind of plants were they?

After you watch: Ask, How long did it take for the seeds to grow? How do you know?  Have you ever tried a tomato, like the children in the video? What did it taste like? What did they find inside the tomato? Remind the children of the sunflower seeds they sampled during Week 1. Ask them to describe the sunflower seeds and how they tasted. 

Optional: Watch the video a second time.

Science Note

Tomatoes are technically fruits because they have seeds—as are cucumbers, bean pods, avocados, peppers, and lots of other edible plants that we typically think of as vegetables. There’s no need to go into this distinction with children. Focus instead on having children observe, describe, and compare edible plants.