Tomato
WHAT WE ARE LEARNING TODAY Hi, I m Tobias Tomato! Today we are going to talk about tomatoes. Let s discover where they grow and how they get from the farm to your plate! Ready for a Tomato Tour?
FUN FACTS Many believe that President Thomas Jefferson was the first American to eat and grow tomatoes. I m going to Canada! The first major farms to grow tomatoes in the United States were right here in Manatee County, Florida. Florida ships more than 1 BILLION pounds of fresh tomatoes all over the United States, to Canada and other countries.
MEET SOME FLORIDA TOMATO GROWERS Being a tomato farmer is not just a job, it s a way of life. Click here to see the video!
HAVE YOU EVER TRIED A TOMATO? The USDA estimates that most tomatoes grown in the U.S. are made into sauces and pastes, preserved in cans, made into ketchup and squeezed into juice! Have you ever tried a fresh tomato at home or in your school lunch?
IS A TOMATO A FRUIT OR A VEGETABLE? The great tomato debate: The fruit that acts like a vegetable Tomatoes are botanically a fruit because tomatoes produce seeds on the inside. Botanically, the tomato is a fruit of the vine. In the kitchen, it is almost always treated as a vegetable. In 1893, the United States Supreme Court ruled, for the purpose of levying a tariff, that the tomato was a vegetable.
TOTALLY TOMATOES Round, grape, cherry, Roma, heirloom and yellow plum Round Grape Cherry Can you think of other types of tomatoes? Roma Heirloom Yellow Plum
HOW DO TOMATOES GROW? Tomatoes can grow in rows outside in the soil. Tomatoes can also be grown indoors in green houses or at home in containers.
LET S TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT HOW TOMATOES GROW Tomatoes grow on the vine. Stakes help keep the plant upright. Did you know that a tomato is green until it ripens into yellow, pink, light red and finally bright red? A trellis is needed to support the tomato plant.
FRESH FOR FLORIDA KIDS VIDEO Take a tour with Nathan and I of our Fresh for Florida Kids Teaching Garden! Let s learn how to grow tomatoes! Click here to see the video!
SPOT IT ON THE MAP Let s find out where tomatoes are grown in Florida! Did you know Florida has 67 counties?
HARVEST TIME! Florida has differing climates throughout the region, so tomatoes have different peak growing and harvesting season. Developed by the Florida Tomato Committee 2011 I was grown in the south! To learn more about tomatoes please visit FloridaTomatoes.org for more information.
Woah! I was grown on a vine? Stem TOMATO TALK Skin Fruit Vine Leaves Roots
BRAIN BREAK FRESH FIND Juicy Florida Harvest Red Round Seeds Tomato Yellow
3-5 MATH GUESSING GAME How many seeds do you think are in your tomatoes? I think there are 20 seeds in a tomato!
3-5 MATH WORD PROBLEM WOAH! That s a lot of seeds! A tomato is cut into four slices. One slice has ten seeds. Guess how many seeds the whole tomato might contain.
3-5 Social Studies FLORIDA TOMATO NUMBERS One acre of land is about the size of one football field! Over 30,000 acres in Florida are used to grow tomatoes.
3-5 Social Studies Tomato Tour Let s follow a Florida tomato from the farm to our plate!
3-5 Social Studies STEP 1: FARMERS PLANT THE TOMATO SEEDS Tomato plants can be started in greenhouses. The seedlings are transplanted to the field after about five weeks. Did you know? Just 1 pound of seeds can produce up to 140,000 tomato plants!
3-5 Social Studies STEP 2: THE SEEDS GROW INTO PLANTS THAT PRODUCE TOMATOES It is important for farmers to practice crop rotation when planting tomatoes. Crop rotation is when farmers grow different crops on the same plot of land to keep the soil healthy.
3-5 Social Studies STEP 3: THE FARMER HARVESTS THE PLANTS Tomatoes can be picked by hand or machine. Florida has more than 47,000 farms totaling more than 9 million acres of land! According to the Guinness book of world records, the heaviest tomato recorded weighed 7 lb. 12 oz. in 1986. Now that s a big tomato!
3-5 Social Studies STEP 4: TOMATOES ARE TRANSPORTED OFF THE FARM IN TRUCKS Some farmers use reusable plastic bins to move tomatoes from the field to be cleaned, packed and shipped. Reusable bins are beneficial to the environment because they don t have to be thrown away.
3-5 Social Studies STEP 5: THE PRODUCE IS WASHED AND SORTED Tomatoes take a bath and are rinsed to look their best! The tomatoes are then sorted, graded and sent to be packed in boxes and shipped to stores.
3-5 Social Studies STEP 6: THE CLEAN PRODUCE IS PACKAGED FOR DELIVERY Tomatoes are packaged according to their size and type. Today s machines can take pictures of each tomato to determine what size will fit into the package.
3-5 Social Studies STEP 7: STORES BUY THE PRODUCE AND THEN SELL IT TO CUSTOMERS LIKE YOU! In Florida, tomatoes are in season every month from October to June. When choosing a tomato in the store, make sure it is bruise-free, bright red and firm to the touch.
3-5 Social Studies STEP 8: CONSUMERS BUY THE PRODUCE AND BRING IT HOME Have you ever wondered what that plastic packaging is called? It s called a clamshell. Clamshell packaging began in 1978 and is used to protect tomatoes and prevent against theft.
3-5 Social Studies STEP 9: THE PRODUCT IS EATEN AND ENJOYED IN YOUR FAVORITE RECIPES Tomatoes can be a great, tasty snack or served in your favorite meal. There are so many great ways to eat a tomato. Let s try one today!
FLORIDA S FRUIT AND VEGETABLE INDUSTRY Known as America s winter salad bowl, Florida s agriculture industry is active year round while northern states have snow! Click here to see the video!
FLORIDA S FRUIT AND VEGETABLE INDUSTRY VIDEO QUESTIONS 1. What season does Florida grow food? 2. What is Florida known as? 3. Name three fruits or vegetables grown in Florida. 4. Complete this sentence: Florida is the capitol of the world. To learn more about Florida s agriculture industry, visit www.freshfromflorida.com/educationalvideos
3-5 SCIENCE TOMATO TASTING 1 Round Grape Cherry Roma Heirloom Yellow Plum
3-5 SCIENCE TOMATO TASTING 2 We all look so different! Green Purple Striped Orange Cherry Brown Kumato
3-5 SCIENCE SENSE-SATIONAL! Describe tomatoes using your five senses. Red Squishy Sweet Acidic Splat Round Soft Earthy Bitter Thud
3-5 SCIENCE TWO TOMATOES Compare your tomatoes. What is the same about them? What is different?
3-5 LANGUAGE ARTS LET S TALK TOMATOES Adjectives are words that describe or modify nouns or pronouns. She liked the red tomato more than the yellow tomato. Tommy picked the ripe tomato from the vine.
3-5 LANGUAGE ARTS Adjectives Have you ever been afraid to taste something for the first time?
3-5 LANGUAGE ARTS Tomato Package List descriptive adjectives to describe what a tomato looks like. List adjectives to describe how a tomato tastes. List the health benefits of eating tomatoes. List their favorite foods that contain tomatoes. Draw a picture of a tomato!
NUTRITION NUGGET Vitamin A: Tomatoes are a good source of vitamin A, which helps keep our hair, bones and skin healthy. Vitamin C: Tomatoes are packed with vitamin C, which may help fight infection and keep the immune system strong. Potassium: Tomatoes are a good source of potassium. Potassium is associated with heart health and proper nerve and muscle function. Lycopene: Tomatoes get their reddish hue from lycopene, a phytonutrient that plays a role in chronic disease prevention
Add color to salads with grape tomatoes or chopped beefsteak tomatoes. TASTY TOMATOES Roast sliced tomatoes in the oven and add them to your favorite sandwich. Make your own tomato sauce to toss with whole-grain spaghetti. Top a taco or stuff a quesadilla with diced tomatoes. Blend tomatoes to make a hot tomato soup or cold gazpacho. Make a homemade salsa with fresh chopped tomatoes. Add diced tomatoes to an omelet or scrambled eggs. Top a cheese pizza with thinly sliced tomato. Visit Fresh From Florida for more tasty recipes!
LET S GET MOVING! Tomato Toss: Three teams will compete to fill their harvest basket the fastest. MATERIALS: 3 bins, boxes or containers 3 sets of colored balls or bean bags (red, yellow, orange) The Farmer will try to catch all the harvested tomatoes tossed by their team. The team that catches the most tomatoes wins!
What did the mommy tomato say to the baby tomato? Hurry and ketchup! What is red and goes up and down? A tomato in an elevator. What did the macaroni say to the tomato? Don t get saucy with me!
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Kick off the school year with Tomatosphere. Sign up your classroom today at www.firsttheseedfoundation.org/tomatosphere Featuring Florida-grown tomatoes on your menu today? Visit www.floridatomatoes.org/recipes and creative in the kitchen. Know Your Nutrition is a great resource to teach nutrition education in the classroom. Download it at www.freshfromflorida/knowyournutrition