Eat a Rainbow 3rd - 6th | Lesson 3, Series #5
Eat a Rainbow
Vocabulary/Key Concepts: Diversity, Phytonutrients, Essential Nutrients, Health, Cooking
Grade Levels: 3rd - 6th
Click here for #5 Series Description
Science Framework
Spanish Lesson Plan
Lesson Bridge:
Connect this lesson (3) with ‘Buggy Diner’ (2) by asking students to reflect on which types and colors of plants tended to be bugs’ favorites. Were they deep green? Yellow? Purple? Bugs require a rainbow diet to stay healthy, and so do humans! Close the Loop by talking about how composted smoothie ingredients help to feed the microorganisms that will, in turn, build healthy soil (1).
Lesson Overview:
In this lesson, students will learn about the positive health effects that individual phytonutrients have on plants and people. The class will make a model showing which colors are linked to health benefits of various parts of our bodies. Students will discuss patterns of diversity in our world to explore the value of a varied diet. Then, students will make and taste a smoothie using produce from every color of the rainbow!
Essential Question(s) that Connect CCCs and SEPs:
- How do the foods we eat affect our bodies? (Cause & Effect; Asking Questions & Defining Problems)
- Do different parts of our body need different types of food to function? (Structure & Function; Asking Questions & Defining Problems)
- What would happen if we only ate one color of food for the rest of our lives? (Cause & Effecting; Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating information)
- Why is it healthy to eat lots of colors? (Cause & Effect; Engaging in Argument from Evidence)
Vocabulary
Diversity- Having a variety of differences between two or more things
Phytonutrients- Natural parts of plants that keep plants healthy and are good for humans.
Essential Nutrients- A substance that is needed for healthy growth, development, and functioning
Health- A state of physical and mental well-being
Cooking- To prepare food to be eaten
Materials:
Option #1: Smoothie Materials
- Red: strawberries, raspberries, beets
- Orange: mango, oranges, carrots, pumpkin, persimmon
- Yellow: banana, peaches
- Green: spinach, kale, bok choy, cucumber
- Blue: blueberries
- Purple: plum, grapes, blackberries
- OJ, apple juice, milk (dairy or nondairy; check about classroom allergies)
- Yogurt
- Blender
- Smoothie tasting cups
- Ice if ingredients are frozen
- Compostable plastic gloves
- Hand sanitizer
Option #2: Rainbow Snack Bowl or Salad
- A sample of at least four different colors of Fruits/Vegetables (one red, one green, one purple/blue, one orange/yellow). If you can, harvest these colors from your garden!
- Compostable gloves
- Hand sanitizer
- Platter or Large Bowl
- Toothpicks (optional)
- Bugs, Humans, and Soil Series Garden Journal (optional)
*Optional: Rainbow Cards
Prep:
- Figure out what things can be harvested from the garden to be added to the fruit bowls (cherry tomatoes, carrots, and cucumber slices, are all good choices).
- Red: strawberries, raspberries, beets
- Orange: mango, oranges, carrots, pumpkin, persimmon
- Yellow: banana, peaches
- Green: spinach, kale, bok choy, cucumber
- Blue: blueberries
- Purple: plum, grapes, blackberries
- Buy needed produce or see about getting some from the foodbank.
- Prepare a butcher paper from the office with the outline of a human body.
Activity Procedure:
Engage:
What do you think would happen if you only had one food you ate every day? Would you get all the vitamins and minerals you need? Why not?
Explore:
Have students go into the garden and look for different colors on the plants/crops. You can have them do a short scavenger hunt.
Explain:
Eating different foods is essential because they have other things our bodies need. You may have heard of Protein. Protein helps us have strong muscles. Fat is also important for our brains to work well, and carbohydrates give us energy. Vitamins and minerals are also essential, and they are found in colorful fruits and vegetables. Different colors have different vitamins and minerals your body needs to be healthy!
Thumbs up/down: Would your body be happiest if you ate many different colored fruits but no green vegetables?
Draw the following chart on the board and add a column for students to brainstorm types of foods that fall into one of the four color groups you will be looking at.
Color of food Good for Try out these rhymes!
Green Bones and Teeth
Blue/Purple Brain
Red Heart
Orange/Yellow Eyes and Immune System
Think, Pair, Share: What are some of your favorite ways to eat different colored foods?
Using your human body butcher paper. Review what colors are good for each part of the body and as you do draw into the body the different parts with the right color of chalk. For example, draw a blue/purple brain in the head, and green teeth in a mouth on the face. To represent the immune system you can use the shape of a shield.
*You can either do this together as a class or have students pair up and trace each other/fill in which color is beneficial to which body part.
Action:
Option #1: Making smoothies.
- Review your Garden Agreements
- Have students harvest any ingredients you will be using from the garden.
- Unless you have a solar set up, long extension cord, or bike blender in your garden you will have to go back to the classroom at this point.
- Divide students into groups to work on different prep aspects of the smoothies such as cutting up pieces of fruit and tearing up kale, and arranging cups out on a table.
- When everything is complete. Have them sit down at their desks and watch as you make the smoothie magic happen. If you are so lucky to have a bike blender and ample time, let each kid take a turn pedaling!
- Add adequate liquid to your blender to help it blend. Ice and additional sweetener are optional.
- Pour into cups and let students come up one at a time to get theirs, or have a few students help you pass them out to the class.
Option #2: Rainbow Snack Bowl
- Review your Garden Agreements
- Pass around a bowl or platter with a sample of each different color. For example you may have purple grapes, red bell pepper, green cucumber, and orange carrot. Ideally something in the snack bowl will come from the garden. Have a toothpick in each food item to avoid students touching the food with their hands, and have students select one food item that they want to try.
- Call on students to tell you one of the foods in their bowls, and what part of the body it is good for.
- Invite students to taste each color, by starting with a lizard lick and graduating to a rabbit nibble, followed by a coyote chomp!
- Ask students to show you a thumbs up if they enjoyed a certain food. Remind students that if they didn’t like a food today, our taste buds change over time, so it’s always a good idea to try that food again in the future.
Reflect:
Did you like the food that you tested? How does it feel in your body? Do you like the flavor? In what ways is eating the rainbow helpful to your body (they give you a variety of nutrients to help lots of different parts of your body)? What are some other ways you like to eat fruits and vegetables?
Extension Activities:
Gardens Change Lives! Page of