Kelly Joseph
- Dec 18, 2022
- 5 min read

Parts-of-the-Plant Salsa

Turn your kids into chef scientists, using every part of the plant to make a delicious recipe together!

Material Requirements: 8/10

Time: 30 - 45 minutes

Age: 4-8

Sensory friendly: 10/10

Connecting Science to the Garden

One of the best things about teaching outdoors is that so many of the lessons children learn in the classroom can be mirrored in a real, hands-on way. Something as complex as plant biology, becomes so much easier to teach when you're holding that plant in your hands, harvesting its fruit, or tearing up its leaves to add to a recipe. And all that hands on experience makes the information stickier in your mind, so you're more likely to walk away with it stored away for the long term.

This Parts-of-the-Plant salsa was a new addition this year and has quickly become my favorite way to kick off a new garden season. Not only does this lesson provide a great introduction to the basics of plant biology, but it also gives kids their first opportunity to use tools on their own. We will be splitting the class into small groups, so they also begin to understand the structure of our garden time and how we can work together to accomplish a goal. Teamwork and community are an important part of any garden, so utilizing a lesson like this early will help to establish a cooperative culture in your outdoor classroom.

Teamwork and community are an important part of any garden, so utilizing a lesson like this early will help to establish a cooperative culture in your outdoor classroom.

How to set up- The Magic of Small Group Learning

The best way to accomplish this lesson is by dividing your class into smaller groups. In our case, younger students were divided into groups of 8 and older students were divided into groups of 3-4. The groups you make will largely depend on what resources you have available, more volunteers and more choppers allows for smaller group work, but if you have fewer choppers or volunteers, dividing the class in half to work on tables side-by-side will still allow everyone to work on the recipe.

We had two folding tables out in the garden, with a group on each end for a total of four groups, but you can also accomplish this recipe in a classroom. Just bring the ingredients with you before hand.

At each small group station have the following set up:

1 paddle chopper (we use this one: https://amzn.to/3dVPwlp)
1 bowl
1 spoon for mixing and serving
1 copy of the recipe
1 bowl of ingredients that includes:
- 1 big tomato or 2 medium or 5-6 small (cut in half or quarters)
- 1/2 pepper
- ¼ onion

Separately have on hand:

A bunch of cilantro
A head of garlic
1-2 limes (cut into small pieces for students to squeeze)
Salt and pepper
Chips for tasting

Introduce the Lesson for the day (5-10 minutes)

Begin the lesson by meeting in a separate sitting area to go over the parts of the plant: Just like humans have different body parts, plants have different plant parts. Sometimes the whole plant is edible and sometimes only some parts of it are. When you walked into the garden, you might have recognized some things you eat already: tomatoes or peppers, but maybe some other plants here you don’t quite recognize because the part we normally eat isn’t what’s visible to us.

So, in order to learn what we are eating, let’s learn the 5 parts of a plant. Can you help me name all 5? (grab the white board and begin by drawing the soil line)

Starting at the soil, what part of a

plant grows underneath the soil? (roots) Draw roots on your white board with the label. Can anyone name anything we eat that also grows under the soil? (carrots, beets, radishes, etc.) So those vegetables are the roots of the plant. Do this same process until all 5 parts are drawn on the board. At the end have the students recite the 5 parts back with you together. Roots, stem, leaves, fruits, flowers. Now that you know the 5 different parts of the plant, we are going to use that knowledge to make a recipe together that includes all 5 parts.

Making Plant-Parts Salsa (15-20 minutes)

We will have fruits (tomatoes), leaves (cilantro), stems (cilantro), roots (onions, garlic), and even

a flower (borage, calendula, naturium, or other edible flower)! We will make the salsa together in

groups and then once we are finished we will get to taste it and share ours with other groups!

Before breaking up into groups, review some important safety information:

Today we will be using kitchen tools, so it is very important that we follow instructions from our

grown ups very carefully because some of these tools are sharp. Do NOT put your hand inside

the chopper and don’t pinch your fingers while using it. If something is too hard to chop, do not

try to put all your weight on the choppers- ask your grown up for help.

Everyone will get a chance to try the choppers, so please be patient and wait for your grown up

to call you up.

Different age groups have different abilities, so to make this easier, I've divided this lesson up depending on what age you might be working with:

For Transitional Kindergarten, Kindergarten, or 1st grade:

Break into groups based on how many adults and chopping tools you have. 4 groups is a great

way to divide up a class of 20 or more students. At your station, have students take turns using

the chopper, two or three can do the tomatoes, two can do the peppers, one can do the onion,

etc. As you go through each item, ask them to repeat what part of the plant it is that you are

adding. Once you have the salsa chopped, pour it into your bowl and mix it up.

Now hand each student a few sprigs of cilantro and have them tear up the leaves (and a few

stems) with their hands, add them to the bowl and mix. Next, have each student take a lime

wedge and squeeze the juice into the salsa, mix it again. Add your garlic and a pinch of salt and

pepper (optional) and then your salsa is finished! Students this age enjoy mixing the salsa so have each student stir 5 times and pass the bowl to the next person. Everyone can count to 5 for each person’s turn and then have the last student pass it back to you.

Once you have your salsa, as a group go pick an edible flower to add to your salsa bowl as a

garnish. We used borage flowers for our salsa, but you can swap in whatever you have available

in your growing space.

For 2-3 grade:

Take the whole class over to one station and demonstrate how to use the chopper tool. Emphasize that they are not to put their whole weight onto the tool or it could break. Check that everyone understands how to use the tool and then break them into groups to go to the fours stations. At each station will be a recipe they can follow along together as a team. It’s important to emphasize that you want them to work together to accomplish this recipe, so please take turns and cooperate. If you have a positive incentive (our school uses paw prints for good behavior) let students know that you’re looking to reward good leadership and teamwork today.

As students begin the recipe, float around to help if they have questions or need extra support,

ask them what part of the plant they are adding now, etc. Once a group is finished, walk them

over to the edible flowers and have them pick a flower to add as a garnish to their salsa. Now

they have all the parts of the plant in their dish.

Tasting time!

Once all the salsas are finished, pass out chips to each table and allow students to try their plant

parts salsa. If there is time, they can share their salsa with another group and discuss if it tastes

different.

Did everyone try a taste? Who liked it? Was there an ingredient they liked? Have they ever eaten flowers before? If you have time, poll the kids about their experience. Congratulations chef scientists!