What part of the plant do we eat

Activity

How well do you know your food? Decide if you have eaten a leaf, root or a flower.

  • Estimated time: 30 minutes
  • Location: Indoors
  • School term: All year round
  • Level of experience: No experience needed
  • Subject(s): Science

Learning objectives

  • Learn about the parts of a plant which are eaten
  • Recognise parts of a plant even when they look different

Essential background information

Preparation

Harvest a range of crops from the garden or ask each child to bring in a plant based food product from home.
Be aware of nut allergies and exclude these from the activity.

Equipment needed

  • A range of edible plant products either fresh or preserved
  • The poster of 'what parts of the plant we eat'
  • A basket or box to keep the produce in

Step by step

  1. Ask the group if they have ever eaten a leaf or stem and discuss.
  2. Look at a container grown plant and identify the flower, stem, leaf, roots, fruit and seeds and discuss the function of each or dig up a weed such as a dandelion and examine the plant parts.
  3. Handle the plant-based food products, ask if the pupils recognise them and sort them to correspond to plant parts.
  4. Ask the group if they have eaten a leaf, stem etc. See if anyone can think of a fruit or vegetable that might be odd or catch someone out. 
  5. Study the downloaded poster and match the plants or tins to the correct plant part.

Hints & tips

  • Sort plant products into what grows above or below the soil. 
  • Cans of vegetables and fruit can be used over and over and then eaten.
  • Use this activity as part of Supermarket Sweep class growing topic.

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