Hey there! Today, we’re going to learn about why fruits and vegetables come in so many different colors. It’s not just because they look pretty, but there’s a special reason behind it!
At the Fort, we’re making a rainbow out of food for lunch. It’s not only fun to look at, but also fun to eat! Fruits and vegetables come in every color of the rainbow, and each color brings a different yummy taste.
You might wonder why these foods are so colorful. Well, it’s not because someone painted them. Fruits and vegetables grow in all sorts of colors to attract animals to eat them!
Let’s take a look inside some fruits. When you cut open a red tomato, an orange pepper, or a green melon, you’ll find something they all have in common: seeds! If a plant has seeds, it’s considered a fruit, even if we usually call it a vegetable. So, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and even eggplants are all fruits!
Fruits need to look tasty to animals because they help spread the seeds. When an animal eats a fruit, the seeds can pass through their tummy and come out in their poop. This helps the seeds find a new place to grow into baby plants.
Plants need water, sunlight, soil, and space to grow. If seeds just fall to the ground, they might not get enough sunlight or space. By traveling inside an animal, seeds can find a new spot with plenty of resources to grow.
Not all plants rely on animals. Some, like dandelions, use the wind to carry their seeds. But many plants need animals, so they grow colorful fruits to attract them. Different animals see colors differently, so fruits look extra tasty to the animals that help spread their seeds.
Now that we know why fruits and vegetables are so colorful, it’s time to enjoy a tasty lunch. We’re having a salad with tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers, and blueberries for dessert. Yum!
Color Hunt: Go on a color hunt in your kitchen or garden. Look for fruits and vegetables of different colors. Can you find something red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple? Draw a picture of each colorful fruit or vegetable you find. Talk about which animals might like to eat them and why.
Seed Detective: With the help of an adult, cut open a few different fruits like an apple, a tomato, or a cucumber. Look inside and find the seeds. Count how many seeds each fruit has. Discuss how these seeds might travel to new places. Can you think of any animals that might help spread these seeds?
Story Time: Imagine you are a seed inside a fruit. Write a short story or draw a comic about your journey from the fruit to becoming a new plant. How do you travel? Do you meet any animals along the way? What happens when you finally find a new place to grow?
