Growing Food

Growing Food

Introduction

Students growing up in a city may have difficulty tracing their food further than the grocery store aisles. Planting seeds and watching them grow is a natural first step to appreciating the source of our food. In Canada, we eat fruit and vegetables from all over the world. Learning where our food comes from, and how it was grown and harvested helps us develop healthy eating habits and a sustainable lifestyle.

Objectives

Students will be able to:

• Describe what seeds need in order to grow into healthy plants
• Identify the parts of a seed 
• Identify the parts of a plant
• Identify several major fruit-producing countries 
• Describe some advantages of buying local fruits 

 Background

A seed stores the food a plant will need to begin growing. The seed coat encloses the nutrients (food) and the plant embryo (baby plant). The plant embryo uses the nutrients contained in the seed when it germinates. Once the plant uses up all the energy in the seed, it begins to produce its own energy from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide. The plant matures and produces its own seeds and the cycle continues.

People get energy from plants in two ways: we eat the seeds or we eat parts of the mature plant. In Canada, most plants begin growing in the spring. Plant parts are ready to eat in the summer and early fall. If we want to eat fresh fruit and vegetables in the winter, we have to transport them from places with warmer climates.

• Roots hold the plant in the ground, especially when it’s windy. They also soak up water and nutrients for the plant. Examples: carrots, turnips, radishes.
• Bulbs are underground stems that store lots of food in their leaves. Examples: leek, onions, garlic.
• Tubers are underground stems that are swollen with stored nutrients. Examples: potatoes, sweet potatoes.
• Leaves catch the sunlight and make food for the plant. Leaves also let water and gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide in and out of the plant. Examples: lettuce, cabbage, spinach.
• Fruit are made by the flower parts and have seeds inside them. Examples: tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchinis, oranges, apples, grapes, string beans.
• Seeds store food inside for the plant embryo and grow into mature plants. Examples: sunflower seeds, coconuts (one of the world’s biggest seeds), sesame seeds, poppy seeds, coffee beans, lima beans.
• Stems help plants stand up and move food and water to all of the other parts. Example: asparagus.
• Petioles are special stems that hold the leaves. Examples: celery, rhubarb.

Entire Lesson

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Other Resources

Science World at TELUS World of Science | Search: The Sara Stern Gallery

BC Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation 

The UBC Farm | Children's Learning Garden

Stanley Park Ecology Society | School Programs

VanDusen Botanical Garden | School Programs

UBC Botanical Garden | School Groups

Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation | Vancouver's Community Gardens

Sierra Club BC | Education | Temperate Rainforest Ecology | Going Wild! Teaching about Wild Products from BC’s Coastal Rainforests