Mystery Fruit or Vegetable

"Mystery and Vegetable Time" is a great way to focus on a variety of state standards in a variety of areas. Students who give the presentation need to find a fruit or vegetable and prepare a list of hints, and use their speaking skills to play their guessing game with their classmates.

Students begin by putting their fruit or vegetable in an opaque container. It is labeled Mystery Fruit or Mystery Vegetables on all four sides. The student may start off by asking for guesses before they give the first hint, (which is whether it's a fruit of vegetable.) They then face the label toward the class so they know the first clue. Only two students guess each time between clues.

Students are encouraged to use their math skills to share additional clues. They are to measure their produce, length, width, and height.. They can give clues as to comparing it to something else. (it's the size of a grape) They can weigh it and become familiar with terminology like pounds, ounces, grams, etc... If it's round they can measure the circumference of it.

They can give the color, information regarding the smell, what dishes it may be used in, and how it grows. When Yuki brought "kale," she shared that it was not a root vegetable. It is a leaf vegetable. I also added that Olive Garden has a wonderful soup that has kale in it called zoupa toskana. Students who guess the Mystery Fruit of Vegetable get to bring the mystery item the next day.

Look at all the way we described characteristics and used our predicting skills. They will learn to use descriptive words also.

This is the song we sing to add to our lesson:

It's a m-y-s-t-e-r-y
It's a mystery
I don't know what the veggie is (fruit)
I guess I'll have to see!
It's a m-y-s-t-e-r-y
It's a mystery
With the size, and weight, and shape

I'll guess what it could be!

You can also have students dress up and give them a musical entrance as they present their mystery item.

Isabel brought another vegetable we could not guess. It was "ginger root." The spice ginger, comes from the plant's rhizome, which is an underground stem.
Check out this link on all the wonderful ways you might assist your health by using this vegetable in your diet.http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/ginger-000246.htm

We're reading about Gail Gibbon's books of vegetables and pumpkins .http://www.gailgibbons.com/index.htm Ask your child if vegetables are usually annuals or perennials. http://www.gailgibbons.com/the_vegetables_we_eat.html