Activity 1: Plant Drama

1. Show students the Parts of a Strawberry Plant poster or a live strawberry plant. Point out the roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruit, and seeds of the plant.
2. Using the information found in the Background Agricultural Connections as a guide, explain the functions of each plant part.
3. Have the students act out each part of the plant.
   • Roots: Sit on the ground, and pretend to anchor yourself in place to represent roots holding a plant in place. Make sucking noises to represent the water and nutrients being absorbed from the soil.
   • Stems: Stand up straight to represent a stem supporting leaves, flowers, and fruit. Move your arms up your body from your feet to your head. This represents water, nutrients, and sugars moving through the stem.
   • Leaves: Hold hands high in the air to represent leaves receiving energy from the sun to make food for the plant.
   • Flowers: Make fancy poses to represent a flower attracting pollinators.
   • Fruit: Pretend to hold a baby to represent the fruit protecting the seeds.
   • Seeds: Roll into a ball on the ground and then slowly begin to stand up to represent a seed sprouting and growing into a new plant.
4. Provide each student with a copy of Parts of a Plant Template 1. Have students cut out the flowers and fold up each petal on the dotted line.
5. Twist green paper into the shape of a stem, and attach it to the back of the flower. Cut out leaf shapes, and attach them to the stem.
6. Use a hole punch to make holes at the bottom of the stem, and tie brown yarn through the holes to represent roots.
7. Using the strawberry plant or Parts of a Strawberry Plant poster as a reference, have the students attach each plant part from Parts of a Plant Template 2 onto the corresponding petal.
    

 Activity 2: Edible Plant Parts

1. Before this activity, make six plant parts cards: ROOT, STEM, LEAF, FLOWER, FRUIT, SEED.
2. Read Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert.
3. Identify examples of roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruit, and seeds from the book. Refer to the Plant Part Chart.
4. Have students make fruit and vegetable “beanbags” using the Fruit and Vegetable Cards. Place each fruit and vegetable page on top of a piece of blank copy paper. Cut out the two pages together around the dashed lines for each fruit or vegetable.
5. Punch holes around the outside edges of each fruit or vegetable card. Put crumpled paper between the two sheets of cut-out paper and use yarn to sew around the edge of each “beanbag.” Staples can be used as an alternative to sewing with yarn.
6. Place six hula hoops on the floor. Lay plant part cards inside each hula hoop to distinguish them as roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruit, or seeds. 
7. Separate the class into two teams. Each student will determine which edible plant part is shown on their beanbag and then try to throw it into the correct hula hoop.
   • Roots: beets, carrots, radish
   • Stems: kohlrabi, asparagus, potato
   • Leaves: cabbage, spinach, lettuce
   • Flowers: artichoke, broccoli, cauliflower
   • Fruit: cherries, apple, grapes
   • Seeds: sunflower seeds, corn, peanuts
8. Each player can earn three points for their team. Two points can be earned for correctly identifying the edible part of the plant. An additional point can be earned if their beanbag lands in the correct hula hoop. The team with the most points wins.
    

Activity 3: Edible Masterpieces

1. Ask families to donate samples of carrots, asparagus, spinach, broccoli, strawberries, and sunflower seeds. Wash all produce.
2. Provide time for students to wash their hands.
3. Instruct the students to use the fruits and vegetables to model the parts of a plant by creating edible plant art. Use carrots to make the roots of the plant, asparagus to make the stem of the plant, and so on.
4. Label each part of the plant.
5. Photograph the edible creations before inviting students to enjoy their artwork as a snack.