Seed to Food Match-up

Objectives

• Study different aspects of the life cycle of plants.

Materials

• Per Class or Group:
  8-10 pictures of everyday foods (Use samples of real plants when/if possible.)
  1 seed per food (e.g. Tomato, peanut, pea, zucchini/cucumber, watermelon, lettuce, beet, onion, lentil, wheat.)
  1 tray per seed type

  Teacher Tip: If working with younger students, separate and put the seeds in plastic baggies so that they are not accidentally dropped or mixed.

Key Questions

• Have you ever grown any of these plants from seed?
• Have you ever seen any of these seeds before?
• How did you figure out the ones you were uncertain about?

What To Do

Preparation

1. Choose foods that are easily recognizable, but with a range of difficulty matching the food with the seed. Include only a couple of challenging pairs to ensure that the group can have a chance at matching most seeds with the foods. For example, tomato and pumpkin will be easier to match, but radishes and lettuce will be more difficult to match with their corresponding seeds.
2. Place one seed in each tray. Position all the trays and the pictures on a table, in no particular order.

Challenge

1. Have students observe the different seeds, and as a group, have them match up the seeds with the corresponding food we eat.
2. Have them discuss amongst themselves until they are all certain they have a match.

Extensions

• Plant the seeds and watch the plants grow through their entire life cycle.
• Try the same activity with matching the food we eat with pictures of the plant that it comes from.
• Visit the UBC Farm through their Farm Wonders program.