It's difficult to concentrate on your homework when your stomach is rumbling, isn't it? If you're going to perform to your potential, you need to fuel your body with some healthy after-school snacks. But what should you eat?
That leftover pizza in the refrigerator probably looks tasty. Of course, a big bowl of ice cream would hit the spot, too. Ripping open that new bag of potato chips would also be very . Your parents probably wouldn't approve of any of those choices, though.
Have you ever given much thought to where your fruit comes from? And, no, we don't mean the grocery store. We're talking about how these fruits are grown. They come from trees, right?
Fruits and trees do seem to go hand in hand. After all, oranges and apples do grow on trees. So do many other fruits, such as apricots, cherries, lemons, limes, coconuts, grapefruits, mangoes, nectarines, peaches, pears, persimmons, plums, and pomegranates, to name just a few!
Watermelons, for example, do not grow on trees. Given the size of these large melons, we can all be happy about that. Can you imagine a watermelon falling out of a tree onto your head? Ouch! Instead, watermelons grow on vines on the ground.
Watermelons aren't the only fruits that grow on the ground on vines. Fruits that grow in a similar way include cantaloupes and honeydew melons. Grapes also grow on vines, but their vines tend to climb rather than stay on the ground.
There are also several fruits that grow on bushes rather than trees. Most berries fall into this category. Examples of fruits that grow on bushes include blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries.
There's one fruit that sounds like it would surely grow on a tree: the pineapple. Pine is a type of tree, and apples grow on trees, so surely pineapples grow on trees, right? Nope! Pineapples grow on a plant close to the ground. The pineapple's name comes from the Spanish word "pina" (because it reminded people of a pine cone) and the English word "apple" (because of its sweet taste).