Objectives 1. Children will explain one reason peppers are healthy for them. 2. Children will explain that peppers come from a plant that grows in the ground. 3. Children will experience peppers using their senses of feel, sound, smell, and sight. 4. Children will make and eat a simple, nutritious recipe using peppers. Total Time: 30-40 minutes Required Materials: Parts of a Plant Chart Veggie Taster Award one for each child Several varieties of peppers, including green, yellow, and red bell peppers, jalapenos, Anaheim chilies, etc. Ingredients for recipes and materials for the food demonstration Utah Food $ense required paperwork for the program Preparation Required: Review lesson plan Gather ingredients and materials needed to demonstrate the recipes Make copies of recipes and anything else you want children to take home Make copies of all the required paperwork for the lesson
LESSON PLAN Introduction Time: 2-4 minutes Tell the children they have a mystery to solve. They are going to pretend to be detectives to find out what vegetable they will learn about today. Ask them what the 5 senses are and write them on the board (sight, touch, smell, hear, taste). Reiterate the senses by telling them they need to use their eyes to see, nose to smell, ears to hear, and hands to touch in this lesson. Pull out the mystery bucket with a bell pepper and a jalapeno pepper and have children take turns sticking their hand in the bucket to find out what the surprise vegetable is. While they are feeling the peppers have them describe what they feel. Direct the students to keep what they think the mystery vegetable is a secret until everyone has had a chance to put their hand in the mystery bucket. After everyone has felt the peppers, ask them to say at the same time what they think they are. How could they tell they were peppers? Did anyone think they were something different? Why? Could they tell what color they were when they were touching them? Pass the peppers around the circle so everyone has a chance to examine them. Explain that some peppers are hot like the jalapeno and some are sweet and mild like the bell pepper. Today we will be tasting the bell pepper. Objective 1: Children will explain one reason peppers are healthy for them. Time: 5 minutes Ask the children for some reasons why they think peppers are good for you. Peppers have a lot of vitamin C. Ask the children if they know what vitamin C does. Vitamin C is important for your body because it helps you fight off disease. It especially helps you fight off the common cold. Have them repeat after you: Vitamin C helps the Common Cold. Vitamin C helps the Common Cold. The repetition of the C s may help them remember what vitamin C does. Peppers are vegetables and all vegetables are healthy. Objective 2: Children will explain that peppers come from plants that grow in the ground. Time: 5 minutes Show children the Parts of a Plant chart. Explain that vegetables are plants that grow from seeds. Usually we can see the seeds inside of a grown plant. If we put the seeds in the ground and give them plenty of sunlight and water, they will grow into more plants. We don t always eat the entire plant. We usually eat just a part of the plant. Describe each of the six parts of the plant. Ask the children which part of the plant they think peppers are. o Peppers are the fruit of the plant. o Show the class a pepper cut in half so they can see the seeds inside. Objective 3: Children will experience the food using their senses of feel, sound, smell, and sight. Time: 10 minutes
Bell peppers come in many colors from red to orange to yellow to violet. Green peppers are just immature (young) peppers that haven t had a chance to turn color yet. Pass around a cut red pepper and cut green pepper. Ask the class to tell you how the two are the same in sound, smell, and appearance. Ask the class how they are different. Explain that although both peppers are mild and sweet, the red pepper is sweeter than the immature green pepper. Objective 4: Children will make and eat a simple, nutritious recipe using peppers Time: 10-15 minutes Tell the class now that we have learned all about peppers, we are going to taste them. Pick a recipe or two from the handout to share with the class. Demonstrate the recipe(s) in front of the class using as many students as you can. If you are short on time prepare some or all of recipe ahead of time. Serve the samples. Commend the children for trying the vegetable. Conclusion: Time: 2 minutes Ask the class: How do peppers help our body? What part of the plant does a pepper come from? How did you like the taste of the peppers? This material was funded by USDA s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program SNAP. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides nutrition assistance to people with low income. It can help you buy nutritious foods for a better diet. To find out more, contact 1-800-221-5689 or visit online at http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/. In accordance with Federal Law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, political beliefs or disability. To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800)795-3572.
VEGGIE TASTERS AWARD This certificate is awarded to YOU For tasting and learning about peppers! VEGGIE TASTERS AWARD This certificate is awarded to YOU For tasting and learning about peppers!
Fun pepper Facts Peppers are high in vitamin C and protect us from the common cold Peppers grow from seeds and the fruit of the plant Peppers taste delicious! Great pepper Recipes 12 oz. pasta (bow tie is great in this recipe) 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 green bell pepper, diced 1 red bell pepper, diced 2-4 cups chopped kale 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 pinch basil 1 pinch ground cayenne pepper Salt and pepper to taste Feta or Parmesan cheese (optional) Cook pasta in boiling water 8-10 minutes. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in pepper, kale, and garlic. Season with basil, cayenne, salt and pepper. Cook until vegetables are tender. Toss pasta and vegetable mixture together and serve. Add cheese for added zip (optional). 1 tablespoon olive oil 4 red and green bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, cut into thin strips 1 large onions cut into thin strips Salt and pepper to taste Place oil in large, deep skillet and turn to medium high. One minute later add peppers and onions. Cook until peppers and onions are lightly browned and tender. Season with salt and pepper Can be added to pasta, fajitas, breakfast burritos, hamburgers, hot dogs, or used as a side dish. This material was funded by USDA s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program SNAP. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides nutrition assistance to people with low income. It can help you buy nutritious foods for a better diet. To find out more, contact 1-800-221-5689 or visit online at http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/. In accordance with Federal Law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, political beliefs or disability. To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800)795-3572