Lesson 2: Growing Beans and Salad Greens

eBook: Fredge Plants Some Seeds

Begin the lesson by sharing the eBook Fredge Plants Some Seeds (click on the cover of the eBook). There is audio for this story, which you can use if you wish or students can take turns to read the text.

The messages in this eBook reinforce the information about growing fresh vegetables from seeds that has been discussed so far and which will be expanded on. For information on using 5+ A Day eBooks, click here.

There are two interactive activities that follow the eBook. They work on a computer, a tablet, or an IWB. They can be used during or at the end of the lesson or in choosing time to reinforce key information from the story. Students will get the most from these activities if you model them first and explain the actions required and the aims of the activity. Then students can do them independently or in pairs.

For Activity 1, drag each item onto the garden in the correct order: soil, compost, seeds, water, and sun. For Activity 2, help keep Fredge’s seeds safe from the blackbirds. Each time a bird swoops down, drag the correct mini-scarecrow onto the bird to scare it off. Use the left-hand scarecrow for the left-hand birds, and the right-hand scarecrow for the right-hand birds.

• What kind of seeds did Fredge plant?/He aha ngā tūmomo kākano kua whakatōngia e a Fredge?
• What did the seeds need to grow into healthy plants? (good soil, water, light, protection from pests)

Explain that we can all grow fresh and delicious vegetables if we plant them correctly and look after them like Fredge did.

Show the students the Fact File: What a plant needs/Ngā hiahia a te tipu from Lesson 1 (click on the image to enlarge, download, and print).

• What things does a plant need to grow and be healthy?

Review each label with students and check their understanding.

• What would happen if one of these things were missing?

Show the students the Photo Card: From seed to plant/Mai i te kākano ki te tipu from Lesson 1 (click on the image to enlarge, download, and print) and discuss the changes they see.

• What does the seed need to start changing like this? (warmth, moisture)
• Has anyone watched a seed growing?/Kua mātakitaki koutou ki te whakatupuranga o te kākano?
• How could we watch what’s happening to Fredge’s beans before they come out of the soil?

Have the students discuss this and share their ideas. One approach is to plant a bean seed in seed-raising mix against the side of a glass jar. If you use a jar, you will need to remove the seed once it has sprouted and replant it as the jar won’t have any drainage.

Another approach is to use moist paper towels instead of seed-raising mix. The students might arrive at different, practical options, and you should allow them to explore these.

Before the students plant the seeds, look together at the Photo Card: The seed cycle/Te hurihanga o te kākano (click on the image to enlarge, download, and print).

• Where do you think our bean seeds came from?/Ki o whakaaro, mai i whea o mātou kākano pīni?
• How do we keep on getting fresh and healthy vegetables every year?

Explore the idea that plants make seeds and that’s how new plants grow. Sometimes we eat the seeds (peas/beans); sometimes we eat the plants or their roots (lettuce, carrots).

Have the students work in small groups, each with a jar, some seed-raising mix, and two bean seeds.

If necessary, model how to fill the jar with seed-raising mix and push the bean seeds down into the mix, so they are against the glass of the jar, one on either side.

Now share the Fact File: Roots and shoots/Ngā paiaka me ngā pihinga (click on the image to enlarge, download, and print).

Based on your discussion of the fact file, make a list together of things for the students to look for as they watch the process over time. For example:

• The bean seed becomes soft and cracks.
• A root pops out of the side of the bean.
• The root pushes down into the soil.
• The seed pushes up as the root grows down.
• Tiny root hairs grow off the main root.
• A green shoot appears and starts growing up.

After the groups have planted their beans, give each student a copy of Resource Sheet: Watch and wait/Mātakitaki, tatari hoki (click on the image to enlarge, download, and print). Tell the students that they can use it to record the changes in their bean seeds. They can draw what is happening at four different times and add the date of each observation.

This is also a time to reflect on the learning and to  signal the focus for the next lesson, where students will look at eating a rainbow of colours and serving sizes, ensuring they eat 5+ A Day to prepare for exercise.