Children examine the seeds in bananas and strawberries. Then they taste, describe, and chart the texture and sweetness of each fruit.
Before we have snacks with seeds, we need to wash our hands.
Does a banana have seeds? Where are they? Can we eat the banana seeds?
Materials
- 1 uncut banana
- 1 washed and uncut strawberry
- Banana and washed strawberries, cut into bite-size pieces for tasting
- Knife and cutting board (for teacher use)
- 2 charts from Snack with Seeds, Part 1 (Lesson 3): Is it soft or crunchy? and Is it sweet or not sweet?
Preparation
- Prepare the fruits as listed in the Materials.
- Display the charts you created together during Snacks with Seeds, Part 1.
Directions: Lesson 7
Snack Time
- Have children wash their hands in preparation for having some snacks with seeds.
- Draw attention to the charts you created together during Snacks with Seeds, Part 1, and help children remember that activity.
- What snacks with seeds did we eat last time? (apples and peppers)
- Where were the seeds? Did we eat the seeds?
- Was the apple soft or crunchy? How about the pepper?
- Was the apple sweet or not sweet? How about the pepper?
- Show children the snacks with seeds for this week and let them name the fruit: bananas and strawberries. Begin with observing the banana. Possible discussion ideas:
- What part of the plant is the banana?
- Let’s make some predictions about the banana: Where do you think the seeds are in a banana? Why do you think so? What color do you think they are?
- Cut the banana open and see if the predictions were correct.
- Next, show children the strawberries and make some observations. Possible discussion ideas:
- What part of the plant is the strawberry?
- What do you notice about the strawberry? Where are the seeds? Can you find them? What color are they? Let children discover the tiny yellow seeds on the outside.
- Can we eat banana seeds and strawberry seeds?
- Distribute the bite-size pieces of banana for children to sample.
- Read the chart question Is it soft or crunchy? Have children answer the question. Draw a banana in the column reflecting children’s decision. Repeat with the second chart: Is it sweet or not sweet?
- Distribute the bite-size pieces of strawberry for children to sample, and repeat the steps above.
