Plant Parts Investigation With Salad

6-8 vegetables: carrot (root), celery (stem), lettuce (leaf), broccoli (flower), tomato (fruit), sunflower seeds (seed)

Poster board for a plant diagram

Markers

Cutting board and knife (adult use for slicing)

Draw a simple plant on poster board: roots, stem, leaves, flowers, fruit, seeds.

Hold up the carrot: "What part of the plant is this? It grows underground — it's a ROOT!"

Place it next to the root section on the diagram.

Continue with each vegetable. Let your child guess first.

Reveal surprises: "A tomato is a FRUIT! Broccoli is a FLOWER!"

Slice some open to look inside. "Can you see the seeds inside the tomato?"

Make a whole-plant salad: "We're eating every part of a plant!"

Cut vegetables open to show internal structure. The seeds inside a tomato prove it's a fruit.

Include less obvious items: potato (stem tuber), onion (modified leaf), corn kernel (seed).

Ask: "Why do plants have roots? What do stems do?" Connect structure to function.

Grow a carrot top in water to show how roots regenerate.

This pairs beautifully with a garden visit or farmers' market trip.