OBJECTIVE

Students will understand how plants grow. They will be able to identify different parts of the plant, and recognize what parts of plants we eat.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

Where does food come from?

MATERIALS NEEDED

• Tops and Bottoms, by Janet Stevens
• Tops and Bottoms Worksheet
• Paper
• Crayons
• Variety of vegetables, either in the garden or on display in the classroom (carrot, tomato, lettuce, beet, potato, kale, squash, etc.)

PROCEDURE

Introduction:
Read Tops and Bottoms aloud to the students. Ask students to list the vegetables they heard in the book, and where they grew in the garden. Make a list on the board.
Activity:
In the garden, invite students to explore with a partner. See if they can find vegetables that grow in different places in the soil. Individually, or with a partner, students complete the Tops and Bottoms Worksheet.
-If in the classroom, students complete the worksheet using the vegetables on display.
Back in the classroom, students choose one vegetable that they will draw.
Each student takes an 8 1⁄2 x 11 piece of paper and folds it in half. They may draw a line across the fold to highlight the soil area. Then they draw their vegetable, according to where it grows in relation to the soil level.
Wrap up/ Assessment:
-Tops and Bottoms Worksheet
-Tops and Bottoms drawing

FOLLOW UP & EXTENSIONS

Planting in the garden