Fruits From Afar Relay

Objectives

• Identify several major fruit-producing countries.

• Describe some advantages of buying local fruit.

Materials

• Per Class:
  3 bins labelled ‘close, medium and far’
  paper, cut into small squares
  felts or pencil crayons
  2 shopping bags
  open area (gym or field)

Key Questions

• Why do some fruit only grow in some locations?
• How can we eat locally grown fruit even in the winter?

What To Do

Preparation

1. Create an assortment of fruit cards (small paper squares with images of various fruits), with a total of at least 10 close, 10 medium, and 10 far fruits.
2. Place the three bins so that they are spread apart, one being close to the starting line, one being a short distance away, and the third being farther away from the starting line.

Relay Game

1. Divide the class into two teams and have them line up behind the starting line.
2. Place a shopping bag filled with the fruit cards in front of each team.
3. At the start signal, each team can send one student at a time (relay style) to pick out a fruit card and put it in the bin they think the fruit comes from (close, medium or far).
4. Go over each team’s selection as a group and discuss common misconceptions about where fruits are grown and how far they have been transported.

Extensions

• Correlate this activity with the resource Map Your Fruit. Discuss how many fruits are available locally at different times of the year.