What Plants Do I Like to Eat?

This lesson developed by Reach Out!

Recommended Age: Preschool and Early Elementary

Questions

What kinds of plants do I like to eat?
What parts of the plants am I eating?

What You Need

Try to get some of the following veggies and fruit:

Roots: turnips, beets, carrots, potatoes, radishes, sweet potatoes
Stems: celery, rhubarb, asparagus
Seeds: sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, nuts, corn, peas, okra
Leaves: spinach, leaf lettuce, bib lettuce, kale, endive, iceberg lettuce, parsley, collard greens
Fruits: bananas, berries, oranges, kiwi fruit, star fruit
Flowers: cauliflower, broccoli

Stove, pot and water

Oven, baking dish or cookie sheet

Cup

Salt, pepper, butter, sugar

What You Do

1. First, think about the parts of a plant: roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruit they bare, seeds.

2. Then, look at your vegeatables and fruits. When do we eat roots, stems, seeds, leaves, fruits and flowers?

3. Now, which of these plant parts do we like to eat raw? Which ones do we like to steam? Which ones do we like to bake?

4. Try out the plants that we eat raw to see which ones you personally like.

5. Take the plants that we like to eat steamed and try steaming them with the help of an adult. Try them and see which ones you like.

6. Look at the plants we like to bake. With the help of an adult, bake these plant parts and try them. Which ones do you like?

7. Some plants we like to make into a juice and drink. Try squeezing oranges or grapefruits and letting the juice fall into a cup. You have some fresh orange and grapefruit juice? Is it too tart? Add a little sugar!

8. Which ones did you like with nothing on them? Which ones did you like with a little butter, salt and pepper?

What Is Happening

Everyday, we eat parts of plants. In fact, we need plants in our diet to stay healthy. We each have different tastes and so we have different plants and parts of plants that we like and don't like. Some plants we eat raw. Others we like to steam or bake.

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