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Oklahoma Agriculture in the Classroom

Calendar



May

Oklahoma Fruit of the Month: Blueberries

Blueberries

The blueberry is a native American fruit. Early settlers cherished it as a staple ingredient in foods and medicines. They incorporated the berries into their diets, eating them fresh off the bush and adding them to soups, stews, and many other foods.

Blueberries are a good source of fiber and are the best of all fruits and vegetables for their antioxidant activity.

North America is the world's leading blueberry producer, accounting for nearly 90 percent of world production. In Oklahoma blueberries are grown in home gardens or on small farms as a U-Pick crop.

Writing Prompt

Write a simile with blueberries as your central image.

Be a Food Explorer

Eat blueberries on top of your ice cream in a bag, mixed with plain yogurt and sliced bananas or try a handful on breakfast cereal or in salad.

Blueberries (Serving Size: 1/2 cup)
amounts per serving
% daily value
calories
40
 
calories from fat
0
 
total fat
0g
0%
sodium
0mg
0%
total carbohydrate
11g
4%
dietary fiber
2g
4%
sugars
7g
 
protein
1g
 
Vitamin A
 
0%
Vitamin C
 
10%
calcium
 
0%
iron
 
2%
Percent daily values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Oklahoma's Berry Best
Books
Gibbons, Gail, The Berry Book, Holiday House, 2002. (Grades PreK-3)
Discussion of how berries grow in the wild and how they are cultivated in fields and gardens domestically, including the impact of climate. The author describes the uses of edible berries and even provides directions for growing strawberries.
Stone, Lynn, Fruit (Plant Parts), Rourke, 2007. (Grades PreK-2)
Beautifully photographed book about fruit is basic but accurate. It is an excellent resource for teaching pollination and seed development and the difference between a fruit and a vegetable.
What is an antioxidant?

Humans need oxygen to live. We breathe in oxygen as O2—two oxygen molecules atomically bonded together. The biological processes in the body use oxygen for reactions, frequently creating single, or free, oxygen particles as a byproduct. Free oxygen particles have a high electric charge which can damage cells if they are not eliminated quickly. Antioxidants (anti-oxygen compounds) look for free oxygen particles to neutralize.

What is a U Pick crop?

A U Pick crop is a farm operation in which customers are invited to go to the farm and pick their own fruits or vegetables.