Question Sheet: The Color of Health

By Science News Explores

SCIENCE

Before reading:

  1. Name five brightly colored fruits or vegetables.
  2. Describe what you would consider a healthy meal.

During reading:

  1. What role do antioxidants in plants play?
  2. How are free radicals in plants created?
  3. What are lipids?
  4. How is wrinkled skin related to free radicals?
  5. When you are selecting fruits and vegetables for maximum health benefit, what should you look for?
  6. What makes blueberries especially healthy?

After reading:

  1. Come up with a menu for the most colorful, antioxidant-rich meal that you can imagine.
  2. Green tea is often mentioned as a food high in antioxidants. Why do you think this is the case?
  3. Summarize in your own words the relationship between antioxidants and free radicals.
  4. Go to the grocery store and look at packaged fruits and vegetables. Which packages list antioxidants?
  5. Imagine that you work at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Write a brief report listing why it’s important to eat five to nine fruits and vegetables a day. Find at least two books or articles to support your ideas.
  6. If you wanted to grow antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables in your backyard or even on your windowsill, what sorts of plants could you use in your area?

SOCIAL STUDIES

  1. In the United States, which state is the largest producer of wild blueberries? Which state is the largest producer of cultivated blueberries?
  2. Suppose you lived in the country of Costa Rica in Central America. Of crops grown in Costa Rica, which fruits and vegetables would be good sources of antioxidants? See www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107430.html (Infoplease, Pearson Education) or www.nationmaster.com/country/cs/Agriculture (NationMaster.com).

LANGUAGE ARTS

  1. Suppose you’re doing a TV cooking show. Find two recipes that you could use to help show how to create a healthy, antioxidant-rich meal.
  2. Use the information in the article to create a commercial to encourage kids to eat more fruits and vegetables.

MATHEMATICS

The following table shows how many millions of pounds of strawberries were produced in 1993 by various countries of the world.

Country
Strawberry Production, 1993 (millions of pounds)
United States
1,424.2
Poland
445.3
Japan
442.5
Mexico
158.7
Canada
64.4
Chile
35.3

How many millions of pounds of strawberries did these countries produce altogether? What percentage of the total was produced in the United States?

Create a pie chart showing each country’s strawberry production. For information on creating a pie chart, see www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/piechart/ (Shodor Education Foundation).