PLANTS WE EAT

Write About Plants and Animals

WPlaenEtast

An Expository Text
by Mary Clare Goller

WPlaenEtast

An Expository Text
by Mary Clare Goller

2

Contents

People Eat Plants . . . . . 4

Avocado . . . . . . . . . . 6
Broccoli . . . . . . . . . . 7
Carrot . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Green Bean . . . . . . . . 9
Lettuce . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Mango . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Pumpkin . . . . . . . . . . 12
Radish . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Tomato . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Watermelon . . . . . . . . 15

Index . . . . . . . . . . . 16

3

People Eat Plants

People eat parts of plants.
We eat the leaves and stems
of some plants. We eat
the fruits, roots, seeds, and
flowers of other plants.

4

5

Avocado

We eat the fruit of an avocado tree.
Avocados have bumpy, green skin.

seed

flesh

Avocados are sometimes called
alligator pears. Can you guess why?

6

Broccoli

We eat the flower buds and stems of a
broccoli plant. Broccoli is packed with good
things that help us stay healthy and grow.

flower buds

stem

Broccoflower is a cross between two
vegetables—broccoli and cauliflower.

7

Carrot

We eat the root of a carrot plant.
Carrots are good for our eyesight.

root

Put the top of a carrot in water. Wait a few days.
Then watch stems and leaves grow.

8

Green Bean

We eat the seeds and sometimes the
pods of a green bean. Each pod has
seeds inside.

pod

A can of green beans holds about 45
green beans.

9

Lettuce

We eat the leaves of a lettuce plant.
Boston, Romaine, Bibb, and iceberg are
different kinds of lettuce.

leaf

Darker green lettuce has more
nutrients than lighter green lettuce.

10

Mango

We eat the fruit of a mango tree.
It takes a mango tree about four years
to produce fruit.

seed

flesh

Orangutans eat mangoes.

11

Pumpkin

We eat the fruit and the seeds of a
pumpkin plant. The seeds taste good
and give us energy.

flesh
seeds

One giant pumpkin weighed over 590 kilograms
(1,300 pounds). That’s more than a cow weighs!

12

Radish

We eat the root of a radish plant.
Radishes have a peppery taste.

root

Radishes have a short life cycle. They are
ready to pick in about a month.

13

Tomato

We eat the fruit of a tomato plant.
Tomatoes can be red, yellow, or orange.
They can be white or black, too.

seeds

One kind of tomato has stripes.
It’s a zebra tomato.

14

Watermelon

We can eat the fruit of the watermelon
plant. To choose a watermelon at the store,
knock on it. If it sounds hollow, it’s ripe.

flesh

seeds

Some farmers grow square watermelons.
These melons can be stacked easily.

15

Index

flower buds . . . . . . . . . 7
fruit . . . . 4, 6, 11, 12, 14, 15
leaf . . . . . . . . . . 4, 8, 10
nutrients . . . . . . . . . . 10
pod . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
root . . . . . . . . . . 4, 8, 13
seed . . . . . . . . . . 4, 9, 12
stem . . . . . . . . . . 4 , 7, 8
vegetable . . . . . . . . . 7

16

Acknowledgments Author’s
Grateful acknowledgment is given to the authors, artists, photographers, museums, publishers, Note
and agents for permission to reprint copyrighted material. Every effort has been made to secure
the appropriate permission. If any omissions have been made or if corrections are required, Every summer, my dad
please contact the Publisher. planted a vegetable garden.
We’d make delicious salads
Photographic Credits with the veggies.
Cover (bg) Viktor1/Shutterstock; Title (bg) Digital Vision/Alamy Images; 2-3 D. Hurst/Alamy
Images; 4-5 image100/Corbis; 6 (tl) Igor Sinicin/iStockphoto, (tr) OlgaLis/Shutterstock, (bl) Ronen I love eating foods fresh from
Boidek/Shutterstock, (br) PhotoDisc/Getty Images; 7 (t) Stockbyte/Getty Images, (b) Suzannah the garden, and so I decided
Skelton/iStockphoto; 8 (tl) Jip Fens/Shutterstock, (tc) Zloneg/Shutterstock, (tr) PiotrMaciejewski/ to write a reference book that
Shutterstock, (b) Steve Curtis Design, Inc.; 9 (tl) Ingram Publishing/Superstock, (tc) Suzannah tells about plants we can
Skelton/iStockphoto, (tr) photocuisine/Corbis, (b) ozdigital/iStockphoto; 10 (t) Nina Shannon/ actually eat.
iStockphoto, (b) Artville; 11 (tl) HP_photo/Shutterstock, (tr) Yasonya/Shutterstock, (b) Tatiana
Morozova/Shutterstock; 12 (t) farres/Shutterstock, (bl) Richmond Times-Dispatch, P. Kevin Morley/ A reference book is a type
AP Images, (bc) Anthony Rosenberg/iStockphoto, (br) Stanislav Fridkin/Shutterstock; 13 (tl) of expository text. I needed
Constant/Shutterstock, (tr) Velychko/Shutterstock, (b) Allan Bergmann Jensen/Alamy Images; 14 (tl) to do a lot of research to
Andriy Doriy/Shutterstock, (tr) Ingram Publishing/Superstock, (b) Suzannah Skelton/iStockphoto; write this type of text. I used
15 (tl) 2happy/Shutterstock, (tr) Pindyurin Vasily/Shutterstock, (b) Studio Eye/Corbis; 16-IBC encyclopedias and reliable
(bg)Egidijus Skiparis/Shutterstock. sites on the Web to find facts.

Neither the Publisher nor the authors shall be liable for any damage that may be caused or The great thing about
sustained or result from conducting any of the activities in this publication without specifically a reference book is that
following instructions, undertaking the activities without proper supervision, or failing to comply you can return to it for
with the cautions contained herein. information whenever you
need to.
Program Authors
Randy Bell, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Science Education, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, What fruits and vegetables
Virginia; Malcolm B. Butler, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Science Education, University of South do you like to eat?
Florida, St. Petersburg, Florida; Kathy Cabe Trundle, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Early Childhood
Science Education, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio; Nell K. Duke, Ed.D., Co-Director of — Mary Clare Goller
the Literacy Achievement Research Center and Professor of Teacher Education and Educational
Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan; Judith Sweeney Lederman, Ph.D.,
Director of Teacher Education and Associate Professor of Science Education, Department of
Mathematics and Science Education, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois; David W.
Moore, Ph.D., Professor of Education, College of Teacher Education and Leadership, Arizona State
University, Tempe, Arizona

The National Geographic Society
John M. Fahey, Jr., President & Chief Executive Officer
Gilbert M. Grosvenor, Chairman of the Board

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