Science Fun You Can Eat -Parts of a Plant Salad

Plants are made up of several parts. They start at the bottom with the ROOTS. The roots hold the plant in the ground. Food also travels from the roots into the plant. The STEM is the next part. Food and water travel up the stem into the rest of the plant. Plants have LEAVES. Some plants have FLOWERS. Plants start out as SEEDS. They grow FRUIT to make more seeds.

Make a salad with all the parts of a flower.

Here’s what you do:

Put in some ROOTS – shredded carrots, chopped onions

Put in some LEAVES – lettuce, cabbage, spinach,

Put in some SEEDS –sunflower seeds, poppy seeds, peas, chick peas

Put in some FRUIT – tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers slices, orange segments

Put in some STEMS – celery, asparagus

Put in some FLOWERS – broccoli, cauliflower- you can also put in some PETALS - pansy petals are edible.

Mix your salad all together. Put on your favorite dressing and enjoy eating a plant!

TIPS FOR TEACHERS & PARENTS:

As you add the various items into the salad have the children explain which part of the plant it is from and what that part
does.

Print out our science worksheet that goes with the lesson and label the parts of the plant as further reinforcement.

Parts of a Plant Worksheet

Great Plant Resources:

Fairy Triad Dome Terrarium
The Young Scientist Club: Set 10 - Seeds, Fruits and Other Plant Parts
Grow Your Own Carnivorous Creations Terrarium

~Belinda Mooney

Belinda J. Mooney is a veteran homeschool mom of 7. She loves incorporating all types of learning from cooking to crafts into her children's learning. Her kids, ages 25 down to 7, can often be seen wearing togas (or other strange clothing) to dinner, doing school outside or leaping fences to get a picture of a strange bug. Her husband has threatened to eat the science projects.