During week eleven of Food is Elementary, students sampled a variety of root, bulb, stem, and leaf vegetables. Through this multi-sensory activity, students were able to learn about the different parts of vegetables, increase their ability to visually and verbally identify different vegetables, and experience the variety of tastes and flavors present in vegetables.
The veggie lesson began with a review of the food pyramid, focusing on the vegetables group. Food Educators then showed the students a felt vegetable diagram that included a root vegetable, a bulb vegetable, a stem vegetable, and a leaf vegetable. Students learned that when they are eating a vegetable, they are eating one of the four previously mentioned parts. Students then matched pictures of vegetables with their proper part; for example, when shown a picture of a carrot, students were able to identify the carrot as a root.The Food Educators also reviewed with students the importance of knowing which parts of a vegetable are edible, and which parts are not.
Following our review and introduction of new material, students broke into groups to sample a variety of vegetables. A few of those sampled were fennel, (a bulb), radishes (a root), celery (a stem), and savoy cabbage (a leaf). As each vegetable was sampled, the Food Educators reviewed which vitamins were present in the vegetables the students were eating based on the color of the vegetable.
After finishing their vegetables, the lesson was reviewed through a targeted reading of Gail Gibbons' The Vegetables We Eat.
For many students, this veggie lesson was their first exposure to vegetables like leeks, radishes, and fennel. I was so proud of how brave they were in sampling these new veggies, and was delighted by how many of them truly enjoyed eating them. They, in turn, were thrilled to show off the muscles they were building by eating their vegetables!
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