British Science Week 2025

Learning

The aim of this session is for children to:

• recall that all food comes from a plant or animal;
• sort a selection of food according to its plant or animal source.

You will need

• A selection of food and/or food packaging (enough for one per child), e.g. apples, onions, carrots, cabbage, herbs, pears, strawberries, tomatoes, potatoes, broccoli, a clean empty egg box, a clean empty milk carton, a clean empty yogurt pot, a can of tuna (unopened), a can of meat (unopened). 

Note: Make sure the packaging is safe for the children to handle. You should not allow children to handle packaging from raw meat or fish, or opened cans.  If you are not able to use food and/or food packaging, use the Where food comes from cards.

• Where food comes from cards – cut the cards so the food image and question are separated from the food source.

Listen and respond
Show the children a selection of food, food packaging or the food images from the Where food comes from cards. Ask the children to name each food and say where it comes from. The children might say ‘the shops,’ but encourage them to think about where it comes from before it arrives at the shops. Question the children about each food:

• What is this?
• Where does it come from? (Plant or animal.)
• Have you tried this food before?
• What else did you/could you have with this food? 

Instruct the children to collect a food, food package or food image card and then find a space.

Based on the food they are holding, task the children to sort themselves into ‘food from plants’ and ‘food from animals’. Give them a minute to group themselves. Check if the children have sorted themselves correctly and question them to see if they can explain more about the food they have, e.g. Is it a fruit or a vegetable? Is it a meat or fish? What does it taste like? Finally, summarise that all our food comes from a plant or an animal.

Have a go

You will need both the food image and food source parts of the Where food comes from cards. Work with the children in groups of four. Shuffle the cards and then turn them face up. Let the children take turns to match a food with its source. When children are comfortable with which food comes from which source, e.g. strawberries from a strawberry plant, you can play pairs.  You might reduce the number of cards for this activity. Turn the cards face down and allow the children, in turn, to choose two cards to try and find a pair. If they are successful, they can keep the pair, if they are not, they must return the cards. 

Consolidate

Give a few examples of food not discussed during the session and ask the children to say if it comes from a plant or animal.

You could organise a visit to an allotment or farm to give the children first-hand experience of where some of their food comes from.

Learning

The aim of this session is for children to:

• explain that some of our food comes from plants, but we cannot eat all plants;
• describe what a plant needs in order to grow well;
• demonstrate how to care for, and be involved in caring for, a plant/s.

You will need

• A herb plant, e.g. basil, coriander, mint
• How to grow chives sheet (Alternatively, you could buy seeds and follow the instructions on the packet, e.g. cress, lettuce, radishes, spring onions.)
• Equipment for growing plants (See the How to grow chives sheet or the packet instructions if you are growing another plant.)
• Plant watering sheet

Listen and respond

Show the children a herb plant, e.g. basil, coriander or mint, and question them:

• What is this? (A plant.)
• Where did this plant come from? (It grew from a seed.)
• What does a plant need so it can grow well? (Light, water.)
• What would we have to do if we wanted to grow a plant? (Get a plant pot, compost, seeds...)
• How could we care for it? (Give it water, keep it in a sunny place.)

Explain that some plants can be eaten and some plants cannot be eaten.  Explain that this is a herb plant and its leaves can be eaten. They need to be taken off the plant and washed, then they can be added to different meals to provide flavour. Tear off a few leaves and pass them around for the children to smell. Ask them to describe what it is like. Explain you will be growing some plants that can be eaten.  Re-emphasise that not all plants can be eaten and we must not eat plants unless an adult tells us it is OK. 

Have a go

Work with the children in groups of four. Explain that you are going to grow some chives and that chives are a type of herb. Follow the instructions on the How to grow chives sheet. Talk to the children at each stage about what you and they are doing.  Help instil a caring attitude in the children by encouraging them to plant the seeds slowly and carefully. Talk about watering and demonstrate how to do it with care.  Set up a care rota to show who will water the plants. You can use the Plant watering sheet to keep a record. 

Consolidate

When you have grown your plant, prepare a dish which gives the children an opportunity to use the plant as an ingredient. You could add chives or cress to some of the recipes on the Food – a fact of life website, such as Terrific tuna tarts, Sensational seasonal salad, Bagel bruschetta and Royal rice.