Tortilla Toppings Fruits and Vegetables Foods Lab

We celebrated the final day of Homecoming on Friday with our tortilla toppings lab.  It comes right after our nutrition unit and at the beginning of our fruits and vegetables unit.  Too often students think you have to eat lots of lettuce to be healthy.  They don't think that parties and get-togethers are a time to eat healthy food.

Download the Recipes Here

Fruit Salsa

Pico de Gallo

Mock-Guac

A class with five kitchens would make two recipes each of fruit salsa and pico and one recipe of mock-guac.  This makes enough for each student (~15 per class) to try a bit of each.

I use it to demonstrate several concepts of preparing raw fruits and vegetables:

• Peeling a kiwi
• Peeling and coring an apple
• Seeding a tomato and jalapeño
• Chopping herbs
• Cutting an avocado
• Preventing enzymatic browning

Students also prepare their own tortillas for the lab.  It teaches them to use the broiler on the oven.  It's very easy:

1. Preheat the broiler.  Move an oven rack so that food will be about 4" from heat.
2. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
3. Cut tortillas into triangles (I budget 2 corn tortillas per student).
4. Place tortillas on baking sheet.  They can touch but not overlap.
5. Spray tortillas with cooking spray.  Sprinkle with salt, if desired.
6. Broil for 3 minutes, watching constantly.  Chips are done when they are light brown and start to bubble.
7. Continue to cook tortillas for 1 minute at a time until all are done.

I am happy to report that this lab is a consistent favorite.  Many of the students ask for copies of the recipe to try at home. 

Teach Fruits and Vegetables Classification with Tops & Bottoms: A Caldecott Honor Book

I love using my favorite children's book, Tops and Bottoms, to review fruits and vegetables classification.

It is a fable of a lazy bear and the hare who tricks him into giving up his harvest every year.  Hare tells Bear that he will farm the land, do all of the work, and split the harvest "right down the middle" with Bear getting the tops of plants and Hare getting the bottoms.

I have the students guess what the hare would plant. In other words, what vegetables grow underground? The students list different kinds of roots and tubers.

The book continues with Bear being angry and demanding the bottoms (Hare plants flowers, leaves, and stems) and the next year demanding the whole plant (Hare plants seeds and fruits).

I used to borrow this from the library every year, but now I own it on Kindle.  I downloaded the Kindle for Mac app and now I can project it for all students to see.  The pictures are great and the students really enjoy the book, even though it is for children much younger than them.