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In second grade, your children have just come out of their habitual surroundings and have begun adjusting to life as a student. They no longer fight discipline or fear visiting the toilet alone. Therefore, this is the ideal time to teach them about the merits of a balanced diet and the importance of focusing on nutrients instead of calories. However, since they lack the maturity and self-control to realize their own good at times, it is better to teach them about healthy food habits and the art of balancing nutrients through fun food facts. Did you know strawberries and raspberries are not fruits at all? Or that potatoes were the first vegetable to grow in space? If you didn’t, then these food fun facts will not only help your second graders learn better about nutrients and a balanced diet, but also intersperse some amusing nutrition facts into your life.
Fun Food Facts About Healthy Foods And Nutrients For Second Graders
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1. Applesauce Was The First Food Eaten By Astronauts In Space
In 1962, scientists did not know if astronauts could eat anything in space as there was no gravity. So, astronaut John Glenn proved the possibility on his Friendship 7 mission on February 20, 1962, when he consumed applesauce in space, aboard his space vessel. The half-consumed pack of applesauce was later displayed in a museum for the public in 1963.
2.Pistachios Are Fruits, Not Nuts
Pistachios are not actually nuts, they are a ‘drupe’, aka, a fleshy fruit that contains a shell-covered seed. However, we discard the fruity shells for the tasty seed within. But very few people know this and most misunderstand pistachios as nuts.
3.Raspberries Are A Member Of The Rose Family, Not Fruits
Raspberries are members of the Rosaceae or Rose family. They qualify as fruits technically as they develop as aggregate fruit in flowers whose carpels are numerous and distinct. However, the many nutrients and antioxidants of raspberries, similar in quality to berries, make people term them together.
4. Potatoes Were The First Tubers To Be Planted In Space
Potatoes are reputed for being the first food to be cultivated in space, in October 1995 by NASA. It was developed with the intention of feeding future astronauts on lengthy space missions and ultimate space colonies.
5. Figs Are Flowers, Not Fruits
Figs are not fruits, they are inverted blossoms or baby flowers that bloom in a different, pear-shaped pod, unlike apples and peaches. This fact will surely delight kids who find flowers pretty enough to eat, as they have always been eating some without even realizing it.
6. Almonds Are Seeds, Not Nuts
Like pistachios, almonds are also a kind of drupe. The growing almond fruit resembles a peach till it matures and splits open to pop out the almond seed that we all love and eat. Despite being considered nuts, they are seeds enclosed in a hard fruit covering. Their richness in healthy fats and nutrients makes people falsely associate them with nuts.
7.Strawberries Are Not Berries, But Bananas And Watermelon Are
Many botanists call strawberries a ‘false fruit’ or a pseudocarp. A strawberry is a ‘multiple fruit’, a fruit containing many tiny fruits embedded as ‘seeds’ throughout. But bananas and watermelon, contrary to popular belief, are not fruits but berries. While bananas can still be botanically termed as both fruit and berry, due to their structure, watermelons are a kind of fruit called ‘pepo’ that are berries with a tough rind, delicious fleshy fruit, and lots of flat seeds.
8. You Can Hear Rhubarb Growing
The growing and harvesting of rhubarb is a complex procedure, that involves transporting plants from the field to dark sheds. The dark, heated environment compels the plants to reach for the skies and grow at an advanced rate of up to a few inches per day. This sped-up maturation of rhubarb happens so fast that you can hear its buds and stalks popping and creaking as the cells divide super-fast.
9. Lemons Float But Limes Sink In Water
Both lime and lemon have densities close to water, which should result in both floating. But limes are slightly denser than lemons, which is why they sink when unpeeled while lemons slightly sink and continue to bob and float. Give this fun experiment a try with your second graders; they will love it.
10. In Winter, Carrots Grow Sweeter
Since plants cannot move in winter, they must develop various methods and defense techniques to battle the cold. As a physiological defense response to cold, carrots convert their stored starches into sugar to stop ice crystal formation and cell damage. As a result, we get to enjoy carrots as sweet as candy in winter, along with some homemade carrot halwa.
Conclusion
Once kids realize that healthy foods, fruits, and vegetables can be fun, they will understand the benefits of following a balanced diet and not hesitate to give their wholesome meals a try. Try to get them to help you out in the kitchen and share these fun food facts with them to pique their curiosity and interest.
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The views expressed are that of the expert alone.
