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Fruit or Vegetable

First graders learn that both fruits and vegetables help the body grow strong, discover how to tell them apart, and sort familiar foods into the two groups.

Grade 1Fruit or Vegetable45 minutes1 class periodSHAPEExplicit teaching4 StandardsSHAPE
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Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Tell fruits from vegetables.
  • ✓Know both are healthy.
  • ✓Name common examples.
  • ✓Sort each food.
Essential Question

An apple and a carrot are both good for you, but one is a fruit and one is a vegetable. How do you tell which is which, and why eat both?

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Lesson Phases
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Vocabulary Terms
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Standards Aligned
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Interactive Task
Sort the Foods · Interactive

Sort the Foods

Project this and sort each food into fruit or vegetable — tap a food, then tap where it belongs.

🍎 Sort each food: fruit or vegetable?Try it
🍎 Fruit
🥕 Vegetable
Tap a food, then tap whether it is a fruit or a vegetable.
The Lesson · Health & PE Flow (Warm-Up · Learn · Practice · Apply · Cool-Down)

45 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Hook — Two Healthy Groups

5 min

An apple and a carrot are both good for you, but one is a fruit and one is a vegetable. Both help you grow. How do you tell which is which?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Show an apple and a carrot.
  • Ask which is a fruit.
  • Set the goal.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Think.
  • Share.
  • Get ready.
2

Use — Sort the Foods

12 min

Students sort foods into fruit and vegetable.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send students to Sort the Foods.
  • Drop each one.
  • Explain each choice.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Sort.
  • Say.
  • Explain.
3

Modify — Fruit or Veggie

13 min

Students test a food.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Pick a food.
  • Say if it is a fruit or a vegetable.
  • Say how you know.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Pick.
  • Say.
  • Say.
4

Create — My Rainbow Plate

15 min

Students plan a colorful plate.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Draw a plate.
  • Add two fruits and two vegetables.
  • Color them in.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Draw.
  • Add.
  • Color.
5

Reflect — Eat Your Colors

5 min

Students reflect on fruits and vegetables.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Name one fruit and one vegetable.
  • Why is it good to eat both?
  • Complete the exit ticket.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Say it.
  • Say it.
  • Complete the exit ticket.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to the SHAPE America National Standards for Health Education and Physical Education.

SHAPE
HE.1

Identify foods as fruits or vegetables.

SHAPE
HE.1

Describe fruits and vegetables as healthy foods.

SHAPE
HE.7

Choose fruits and vegetables as part of eating well.

SHAPE
HE.8

Value eating a variety of colorful foods.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Food picture cards.
  • Sentence frame: “A ___ is a ___ .”
  • Sort two foods at a time.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Start with an apple and a carrot.
  • Name each food together.
  • Sort the fruits first.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Add foods that surprise people, like tomato.
  • Group by the plant part they come from.
  • Explain why we eat a variety of colors.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Projector / board
  • 🖼️Food picture cards
  • 💻Sort the Foods
  • 🍎Plastic or real produce
  • ✏️Pencils
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

fruita usually sweet food that grows from a plant's flowervegetablea healthy food from a plant's root, stem, or leaveshealthygood for your body and growthnutritionthe way food helps your body grow and workvitaminsparts of food that keep your body healthyvarietyeating many different kinds of foodproducefresh fruits and vegetablesservingone helping of a food
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
Name one fruit and one vegetable.
For example, an apple is a fruit and a carrot is a vegetable.
QUESTION 2
Why is it good to eat both fruits and vegetables?
They give your body vitamins and energy to grow strong and stay healthy, and eating a variety gives you more of what you need.
QUESTION 3
Is a banana a fruit or a vegetable?
A fruit, because it is sweet and grows from the plant's flower.

Create: my rainbow plate.

Have students draw a plate, add two fruits and two vegetables, and color them in, so eating a variety of produce feels fun and easy to picture. A printable fruit-or-vegetable worksheet is in the PE & Health library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 Fruit or VegetableFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
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Nice work!

Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 Fruit or VegetableQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
0%

Nice work!

Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ Fruit or VegetablePrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: fruit, healthy, nutrition, produce, serving, variety, vegetable, vitamins
  1. the way food helps your body grow and work
  2. parts of food that keep your body healthy
  3. fresh fruits and vegetables
  4. one helping of a food
  5. good for your body and growth
  6. eating many different kinds of food
  7. a usually sweet food that grows from a plant's flower
  8. a healthy food from a plant's root, stem, or leaves

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. Name one fruit and one vegetable.
  2. Why is it good to eat both fruits and vegetables?
  3. Is a banana a fruit or a vegetable?
Answer key — Part A: 1) nutrition · 2) vitamins · 3) produce · 4) serving · 5) healthy · 6) variety · 7) fruit · 8) vegetable
Part B: 1) For example, an apple is a fruit and a carrot is a vegetable. 2) They give your body vitamins and energy to grow strong and stay healthy, and eating a variety gives you more of what you need. 3) A fruit, because it is sweet and grows from the plant's flower.