The Life of a Tomato
Materials:
Blank white paper
Pencils
Crayons or markers
Tomatoes are planted in the spring and grow and produce fruit, then die all in one season.
We call plants that do this annuals because they complete their seed to seed life cycle in one year.
What did you draw in the first square?
Discuss some of their answers. Have everyone hold up their pictures and point to their first story boxes.
Then have the students look around to see the different drawings for the first of their stories.
What do most of the pictures have in common?
Most of them should have a picture of a seed or transplant in the soil.
Like most plants, tomatoes begin their life as seeds. Most gardeners plant tomatoes as plants in their garden. The garden center or greenhouse started the seeds and grew them so that they are small plants.
Why do we plant transplants or small plants rather than plant the seeds directly into the garden?
To get a head start on the growing season.
If you would like to draw a new picture, turn the paper over and start again.
What do tomato plants need to grow?
Sun and water. If they haven't already included sun and water in their pictures, have the students add something to indicate sun and water.
Seeds also need warm soil and air so we plant them after the threat of freezing weather is past.
What season do we plant seeds?
Spring. Tomatoes in Iowa are usually planted in May. Write spring somewhere on your first picture.
What have you drawn in your second pictures?
Discuss different drawings and have the students hold them up as for picture one.
What do most of the pictures have in common?
Stems and leaves.
What season(s) do tomato plants grow?
Late spring and early summer. You can label your second picture or draw a new one and label it on the back.
What have you drawn in your third pictures?
Discuss different drawings and have the students hold them up as for picture one.
What do most of the pictures have in common?
Flowers should start showing up on the plants. Tomato plants will grow about five leaves before they flower.
Do you know what color tomato flowers are?
Bright yellow. They are formed in clusters of a few or many flowers. You may color in your flowers or start another drawing on the back or your paper.
What season do the tomato flowers start to appear?
Usually summer. You can write summer on your third picture.
What have you drawn in your fourth pictures?
Discuss different drawings and have the students hold them up as for picture one.
What do most of the pictures have in common?
Tomatoes should start showing up on the plants.
What characteristics are different between your tomatoes?
Different sizes and shapes. If they have colored them already, they may have different colors.
What has happened between pictures three and four in order for tomatoes to start showing up on the tomato plant?
Bees, butterflies or wind carrying pollen from one flower to another pollinated the flowers. The stems continued to grow, more leaves developed between more flower clusters. After the flowers died, the tomatoes started to grow. You can add more stems, leaves, flower clusters, bees or butterflies to your pictures or draw a new one on the back of your page.
Which tomatoes will be ready to pick first?
The ones closest to the soil.
Why?
They were the first ones to flower and develop into a fruit.
What color are tomatoes when they first show up on a plant?
Green.
What color are tomatoes when they are ripe and ready to pick?
Red, orange, yellow, or pink, depending on the variety.
When you color your tomatoes which ones will be red, orange, yellow, or pink?
The tomatoes growing closest to the soil or the base of the plant. The ones near the top of the plant will be green. Go ahead and color your tomatoes.
What season(s) are tomatoes ready to pick in Iowa?
Late summer or early fall. Tomato plants will continue to grow and make tomatoes until they are killed by frost in the fall. Go ahead and label your picture.
What do the first and fourth pictures have in common? Hint: This common link is hidden in your fourth picture.
They both have seeds.
What is different about the seeds in the first and fourth pictures?
A tomato plant can be grown from one seed but it produces several hundred seeds inside the tomatoes.
What other popular garden plants start with one seed that produces several hundred other seeds that you can see?
Corn, beans, peas, peppers, pumpkins, strawberries, and many others.
What cycle is that called?
The seed to seed life cycle or an annual life cycle.
You have created a story panel out of four pictures.
Where else are story panels used?
Cartoons.
They are also used to develop television advertisements and animated movies.
Many step-by-step directions for how to build or make something contain illustrations that shows a beginning and end.
Blank white paper
Pencils
Crayons or markers
- Have the students take out a blank sheet of paper and a pencil, crayons and markers. Ask them to fold the paper into fourths so that they have four panels to draw four pictures that tell the story of how a tomato plant grows. On one side of the paper have them go ahead and draw the four stages of growing tomato plants without an explanation. Then proceed with the following discussion and have them label their pictures or draw new ones on the back of the paper.
Tomatoes are planted in the spring and grow and produce fruit, then die all in one season.
We call plants that do this annuals because they complete their seed to seed life cycle in one year.
What did you draw in the first square?
Discuss some of their answers. Have everyone hold up their pictures and point to their first story boxes.
Then have the students look around to see the different drawings for the first of their stories.
What do most of the pictures have in common?
Most of them should have a picture of a seed or transplant in the soil.
Like most plants, tomatoes begin their life as seeds. Most gardeners plant tomatoes as plants in their garden. The garden center or greenhouse started the seeds and grew them so that they are small plants.
Why do we plant transplants or small plants rather than plant the seeds directly into the garden?
To get a head start on the growing season.
If you would like to draw a new picture, turn the paper over and start again.
What do tomato plants need to grow?
Sun and water. If they haven't already included sun and water in their pictures, have the students add something to indicate sun and water.
Seeds also need warm soil and air so we plant them after the threat of freezing weather is past.
What season do we plant seeds?
Spring. Tomatoes in Iowa are usually planted in May. Write spring somewhere on your first picture.
What have you drawn in your second pictures?
Discuss different drawings and have the students hold them up as for picture one.
What do most of the pictures have in common?
Stems and leaves.
What season(s) do tomato plants grow?
Late spring and early summer. You can label your second picture or draw a new one and label it on the back.
What have you drawn in your third pictures?
Discuss different drawings and have the students hold them up as for picture one.
What do most of the pictures have in common?
Flowers should start showing up on the plants. Tomato plants will grow about five leaves before they flower.
Do you know what color tomato flowers are?
Bright yellow. They are formed in clusters of a few or many flowers. You may color in your flowers or start another drawing on the back or your paper.
What season do the tomato flowers start to appear?
Usually summer. You can write summer on your third picture.
What have you drawn in your fourth pictures?
Discuss different drawings and have the students hold them up as for picture one.
What do most of the pictures have in common?
Tomatoes should start showing up on the plants.
What characteristics are different between your tomatoes?
Different sizes and shapes. If they have colored them already, they may have different colors.
What has happened between pictures three and four in order for tomatoes to start showing up on the tomato plant?
Bees, butterflies or wind carrying pollen from one flower to another pollinated the flowers. The stems continued to grow, more leaves developed between more flower clusters. After the flowers died, the tomatoes started to grow. You can add more stems, leaves, flower clusters, bees or butterflies to your pictures or draw a new one on the back of your page.
Which tomatoes will be ready to pick first?
The ones closest to the soil.
Why?
They were the first ones to flower and develop into a fruit.
What color are tomatoes when they first show up on a plant?
Green.
What color are tomatoes when they are ripe and ready to pick?
Red, orange, yellow, or pink, depending on the variety.
When you color your tomatoes which ones will be red, orange, yellow, or pink?
The tomatoes growing closest to the soil or the base of the plant. The ones near the top of the plant will be green. Go ahead and color your tomatoes.
What season(s) are tomatoes ready to pick in Iowa?
Late summer or early fall. Tomato plants will continue to grow and make tomatoes until they are killed by frost in the fall. Go ahead and label your picture.
What do the first and fourth pictures have in common? Hint: This common link is hidden in your fourth picture.
They both have seeds.
What is different about the seeds in the first and fourth pictures?
A tomato plant can be grown from one seed but it produces several hundred seeds inside the tomatoes.
What other popular garden plants start with one seed that produces several hundred other seeds that you can see?
Corn, beans, peas, peppers, pumpkins, strawberries, and many others.
What cycle is that called?
The seed to seed life cycle or an annual life cycle.
You have created a story panel out of four pictures.
Where else are story panels used?
Cartoons.
They are also used to develop television advertisements and animated movies.
Many step-by-step directions for how to build or make something contain illustrations that shows a beginning and end.
