Explore and Play: Mystery Vegetable

Materials

• flower pot
• potting soil
• carrot with leaves still attached

Key Science Concepts

• Many of the foods we eat come from plants.
• We eat certain leaves, roots, fruits, and seeds.

Directions

1. Prepare ahead of time: Bury the carrot in the flower pot so only the leaves appear above the soil.  Show children the plant and ask children to guess what kind of plant it could be.
2. Ask a volunteer to slowly pull the carrot out of the soil and to tell the group what it is. Tell children that this is how carrots look growing in a garden.

Reflect and Share

Tell children that carrots are called root vegetables. Ask, If a carrot grows under the soil like this, what part of the plant do you think it is? Ask them to think of other vegetables we eat that are the roots of plants (radishes, onions, potatoes, turnips, beets, for example).

Alternative Activity: If you are unable to find carrots with leaves still attached, have children draw a picture of their favorite vegetable in their Plant Journals.