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Lesson 5:

Eat Your

Colors

LESSON OVERVIEW:

Students will learn that including fruits and vegetables of many colors 

at meals looks attractive, and helps them get the nutrients they need 

to grow and be healthy. They will also learn more about the Red and 

Orange Vegetable Subgroup and design a colorful garden. 

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS: What colorful veggies can flavor up my plate? How

 can I be sure I’m getting all the nutrients I need? 

TEACHING PROCEDURE:

GETTING STARTED (15 minutes)

1. Write the following riddles on the board and have students write them 

down and guess the answer in their Garden Journals. 

Q: “Does this clue ring a bell? I’m sweet, but not spicy. 

 I’m no longer green because I’ve been hanging out for a while.”

 A: Red and orange bell peppers

Q: “I’m one sweet root that’s orange inside. 

 Some people confuse me for a yam.” 

 A: Sweet potato

Q: “I’m a crunchy root that’s fun to dip. 

 Enjoy me ‘baby size’ or cut into sticks.”

 A: Carrot

2. Ask students: What do these three answers have in common?

They are all vegetables and they are part of the Red and Orange 

Vegetable Subgroup! Note: Yellow and green peppers are part 

of the Other Vegetable Subgroup.

3. Review with students that eating a colorful variety of fruits and 

vegetables at meals and snacks helps their bodies get the nutrients 

they need to grow and be healthy. Most people need to eat more 

from the Dark-Green, Red and Orange, and Beans and Peas 

Subgroups. (Lessons 3, 4)

TOTAL TIME REQUIRED: 95 minutes / 3 sessions

Session 1: Getting Started 15 min;

 Activity I “Triple Taste Combo Game”

 20 min (English Language Arts)

Session 2: Activity II “Get Your Engine Going” 

 20 min (Health/Science)

Session 3: Activity III “Garden Designers” 30 min 

 (Math/Art – can be done with art teacher);

 Reflect 10 min

Key Message: 

Rock your colors! Choose red, orange, and 

dark-green veggies at meals and snacks. 

Subject Connections:

English Language Arts, Science, Math, Health, 

Science, Math (Art – see p. 39)

Learning Objectives:

Students will be able to...

• Describe ways to include a variety of fruits

 and vegetables in their diet.

• Design and plan a colorful garden using a 

 variety of vegetables that grow well together.

• Plan a healthy meal featuring the vegetable

 subgroups.

Supplies (per student)

• Access to sink with warm, running water 

and soap

• Plates, bowls (for dips and fillings), spoons, forks,

 and napkins (per student)

• Graphing and plain paper, colored pencils, 

 rulers, poster board

• Garden Journals

• Student handouts (pp. 78-79): 

 1. Garden Companions

 2. My Garden Plan

• Dig In! poster – Veggie Rock Stars

Featured Fruits and Vegetables:

Red and orange bell peppers

Provide enough raw bell peppers (rinsed, 

seeded, cut into scoops) to provide students 

with 4 to 5 scoops. Provide water (and cups) 

for students to drink as they taste the vegetables.

Additional Foods:

Provide a variety of fillings for a bell pepper 

tasting activity on pp.38-39. (For example, brown 

rice with beans, veggie salsa, hummus, bean 

dip, or low-fat veggie dip.)

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4. Write the words Red and Orange Vegetables on the board. Have students 

volunteer names of vegetables that are in the Red and Orange Vegetable 

Subgroup. List them on the board. Note: Beets range from red to deep 

purple in color; however, it is important to note that they are not part of the 

Red and Orange Vegetable Subgroup (see sidebar).

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Activity I. Triple Taste Combo Game (20 minutes, English Language Arts)

1. Next, play the Triple Taste Combo Game. Ask a student to start by 

naming a colorful fruit or vegetable. Then, ask two more students to name 

a different colored fruit or vegetable they think might go well with the first 

one. (For example, the first student might start with “lettuce.” The next two 

students may volunteer “onion” and “tomato.” The resulting combination 

would be “lettuce + onion + tomato.”) Ask students where they might eat 

this combination (on a sandwich). Starting with “tomato,” have two more 

students create another combination. 

2. You can also allow students to have one of the three foods in their 

combination be from another food group (such as yogurt, blueberries, 

and strawberries). The combinations will get creative and you may come 

up with some clever new snacks!

Activity II. Get Your Engine Going (20 minutes, Health/Science)

 *Allergy Alert! See p. 2 for more information on food safety 

and allergies before starting this food preparation activity. 

Prepare: Set up a tasting station with red and orange bell peppers. Rinse 

and cut enough bell peppers to give students four to five pieces each. Cut the 

pepper into four to five pieces lengthwise so the curve at the end is shaped as 

a “scoop.” Get rid of the seeds. Work with parent volunteers or school food 

service staff to provide a couple of different foods students can use as “fillings” 

for the red pepper vehicles. (For example, brown rice with beans, salsa, 

hummus, bean dip, or low-fat veggie dip.) You can also use other veggies or 

fruit as fillings after they are finely chopped.

1. Tell students they will now taste red and orange pepper vehicles! Explain 

that these bright colored peppers are part of the Red and Orange 

Vegetable Subgroup, and are full of good nutrients including vitamins A 

and C. Their shape also happens to make a great “vehicle” to scoop 

different dips or fillings (whatever you are able to provide). 

LESSON 5

 Teacher Tip! 

Display the Dig In! Veggie Rock 

Stars poster in the classroom. 

Looking at the poster, ask students

if they can identify vegetables in the 

Red and Orange Vegetable Subgroup

Which ones have they tried before, 

and which ones will they try?

Note: A list of all vegetables pictured 

in the poster can be found at: 

http://teamnutrition.usda.gov/

Resources/dig_in.html. 

RED AND ORANGE 

VEGETABLE SUBGROUP

Acorn squash

Butternut squash

Carrots

Hubbard squash

Pumpkin

Red and orange bell peppers

Sweet potatoes

Tomatoes (including tomato juice 

and tomato sauce)

POPULAR AND TASTY 

COMBINATIONS

Stew: Carrots, potatoes, onions

Chili: Peppers, tomatoes, 

kidney beans

Fruit Salad: Apple, banana, 

strawberries

Crudité Tray: Broccoli, carrots, celery

Mixed Vegetables: Corn, 

carrots, green beans

PROFESSIONAL 

FOOD PREPARATION

Invite a guest chef or dietitian to show 

the class how to use colorful veggies 

to make healthy meals appealing. 

They may wish to demonstrate how 

to make the Colorful Quesadillas 

recipe from Dig In! at Home and 

provide samples for everyone 

to try.

38 Dig In! • Grades 5-6 • http://teamnutrition.usda.gov
39

 IMPORTANT FOOD 

 SAFETY STEPS! 

Please see p. 4 for a reproducible handout 

to post in a visible location in your classroom. 

It is important that you follow these steps to 

keep yourself, your students, and any 

parents or volunteers safe and healthy. 

Hand Washing:

All persons participating in the food 

preparation activity (teachers, students,

volunteers, parents) should wash hands

before and after preparing, handling, or

sampling foods. 

2. First, have students wash their hands following proper procedures (see LESSON 5

sidebar). Give students plates, forks, spoons, and napkins. Provide them each 

with three to five pepper “scoops” and a sampling of dips. Before they fill their 

peppers with anything, have them taste the pepper on its own and write down 

their observations in their Garden Journals. Next, have them spoon different 

fillings into their red or orange bell pepper vehicles to taste. Ask students to 

write down each combination, and a reflection on the flavors of each sample. 

3. Invite students to share their thoughts. Ask: What was your favorite pepper 

vehicle combination? Do you have ideas of other unique combinations you 

may want to try? How did the combination change or enhance the flavor of 

the pepper? If serving orange and red bell peppers, ask them to reflect on 

whether the two varieties taste different or similar.

Activity III. Garden Designers (30 minutes, Math/Art) 

 Teacher Tip! Collaborate with the Art teacher to turn student garden plans 

 into colorful works of art. Display them around the school. 

1. Provide each student with a copy of the handout Garden Companions

(p. 79). Now that students have explored how to combine colors and flavors 

in the kitchen using fruits and vegetables, students should continue to think in 

color, but this time in the garden. 

2. Ask students: What new and colorful variety of fruits and vegetables can we 

grow in our garden? What plants grow well together? Explain that just as 

certain foods look and taste good together, certain plants grow better 

together. (For example, have you or your students ever heard of a “Three 

Sisters Garden”? It is an ancient and common agricultural/gardening 

practice of intercropping, or simultaneously growing crops (corn, squash, 

beans) together in the same area.) Corn grows tall and provides the height and 

surface for beans to climb. Squash grows low and over the ground, shading 

the soil and protecting her “sisters” (corn and beans) from weeds. Beans also 

help her sisters through the roots, which keep the soil fertile with nutrients from 

the sun. Which of the three sisters are growing in your garden? Do any local 

farms practice companion planting? ( p. 101)

3. Have students work in their Garden Teams to design a colorful garden. 

Provide them with the handout My Garden Plan (p. 78), or graphing and plain 

paper, colored pencils, and rulers. Alternatively, they can also make collages of 

images for their garden plan instead of drawing. Encourage them to use the 

list of fruits and vegetables from the beginning of the lesson (Getting Started, 

step 4, p. 38) as well as the Garden Companions handout (p. 79), for 

reference. You may want to set some parameters before beginning, such as 

the size of the garden or to include certain vegetables (for example, red bell 

peppers). Have them draw their designs to scale on their graph paper. 

Otherwise, allow your students to use their imaginations and be creative in 

designing their own edible garden!

DIG DEEPER! 

(SOCIAL STUDIES)

In addition to companion planting, it is 

important to consider the weather and 

amount of sunlight and shade in each 

area of your garden. 

• Have students check the garden at 

different times of the day to determine 

which plots are the sunniest and 

shadiest to determine what plants 

will grow best there. 

• Ask students to check the 

Growing Guide ( p. 96-99) 

to find out which plants can be 

planted and harvested at the 

same time of the year. They 

should factor this information 

into their garden plans.

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REFLECT (10 minutes)

1. Have students reflect in their Garden Journals on the following questions, 

then invite students to share their reflections with the class: Why is it important 

to consider the color of foods when planning a meal? Did your dinner last night 

include any colorful fruits and vegetables? How about your lunch? How would 

you feel about eating bell pepper vehicles for a snack at home? What type of 

bell pepper vehicle would you make for each member of your family?

EXTENSIONS

Rainbow Meals. Have students collaborate with the cafeteria staff on 

how to include a colorful variety of fruits and vegetables, present meals in 

attractive ways, and incorporate garden colors on the school lunch menu. 

Team Nutrition’s Recipes for Healthy Kids Cookbook includes kid-tested 

recipes for Rainbow Rice, Purple Power Bean Wraps, and more! 

http://teamnutrition.usda.gov

Garden Colors Day. Encourage kids to choose a rainbow of fruits and 

vegetables from the cafeteria on a “Garden Colors Day” by rewarding them 

with inexpensive food-related prizes, such as temporary tattoos of fruits 

and vegetables or food-themed stickers. Prizes are earned by eating at least 

three differently colored fruits or vegetables.

LESSON 5

40 Dig In! • Grades 5-6 • http://teamnutrition.usda.gov

GARDEN DESIGN

If you have just begun your school 

garden, think about how you can 

design it to integrate plant companions.

( p. 101) Collaborate with your 

students using their garden design 

plans. If your garden is already 

growing, think about what new fruits 

and vegetables you want to grow. 

Perhaps you want to expand your 

garden with new containers or 

a new garden bed. 

DIG DEEPER! 

HEALTHY PROMOS

Using the existing Dig In! posters as 

inspiration, have students create their 

own colorful posters with motivating 

slogans featuring healthy choices. Then 

display them around the school and 

cafeteria as inspiration for others to eat 

more fruits and vegetables.