Tomatoes: Science Activities

Vine and Twine Scavenger Hunt (Grades K-2)

Read “Tomatoes Grow on a Vine (How Fruits and Vegetables Grow)” by Mari Schuh. Go on a scavenger hunt in your neighborhood looking for vines – they may be growing up fences, walls, trellises, or other plants. Draw what you find in a journal.

Standards:

• GSE Standard ELAGSE1RI2: Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
• GSE Standard S1L1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the basic needs of plants and animals.
  • a. Develop models to identify the parts of a plant—root, stem, leaf, and flower.
  • b. Ask questions to compare and contrast the basic needs of plants (air, water, light, and nutrients) and animals (air, water, food, and shelter).

The Life of a Tomato: Seed to Fruit (Grades K-2)

Read “Tomatoes (First Step Nonfiction ― Plant Life Cycles)” by Robin Nelson. Write or draw a story about a little tomato seed. Be sure to include what it needs to grow (soil, sun, air, water) and the parts it grows through its life cycle (seed, roots, stem, leaves, flower, fruit).

Standards:

• GSE Standard ELAGSE1RI2: Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
• GSE Standard ELAGSE1W3 Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.
•  GSE Standard S1L1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the basic needs of plants and animals.
  • a. Develop models to identify the parts of a plant—root, stem, leaf, and flower.
  • b. Ask questions to compare and contrast the basic needs of plants (air, water, light, and nutrients) and animals (air, water, food, and shelter).

What is Inside Your Tomato? More than Seeds! (Grades 2-5)

Read “Little Yellow Pear Tomatoes” by Demian Elaine Yumei. Slice into a tomato and make a list of everything that is inside – everything you can see and everything that you can’t see too (workers, bugs, worms, clouds, sky, lakes, rivers, sun, stars)!

Standards:

• GSE Standard ELAGSE2RL2. Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.
• GSE Standard S1L1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the basic needs of plants and animals.
  • a. Develop models to identify the parts of a plant—root, stem, leaf, and flower.
  • b. Ask questions to compare and contrast the basic needs of plants (air, water, light, and nutrients) and animals (air, water, food, and shelter).