CSA Pickup: Week of September 9, 2026 - Tomato STEM Exploration
Some vegetables seem pretty ordinary until you slow down and look at them a little differently. Tomatoes are a good example.
From the outside, a tomato doesn't tell us much about what's happening inside. But cut one open and suddenly there are seeds, chambers, juicy spaces, and patterns to explore.
This week, our tomatoes gave us a simple question: What's happening inside a tomato?
As with many of our CSA explorations, this isn't about turning a vegetable into a complicated lesson. It's simply about looking closely and seeing what we notice.
Jump Links to Main Sections
STEM Exploration: What's Inside A Tomato
Kitchen Science: This Week's CSA Dish
What We Received This Week
Green cabbage
Kale
Collard greens
Tomatoes
Celery
Carrots
Lettuce
Shallots
Bell peppers
Cucumber
Quick Produce Notes
Tomatoes: Tomatoes are fruits because they develop from a flower and contain seeds. Inside, the seeds sit in small chambers surrounded by a juicy gel.
Celery: Celery's long stalks are made up of layers of plant tissue that help support the leaves. Those stalks also contain tubes that transport water through the plant.
Carrots: The part of a carrot we usually eat is the plant's taproot. It grows underground and stores energy for the plant.
STEM Exploration: What's Inside a Tomato?
Tomatoes are pretty fun to explore as it's a little messy and they don't look like another vegetable.
What You Need
1–2 tomatoes
A knife (dependent on age and skill of child, child can cut with supervision or parent can)
A cutting board
Optional: paper and pencil for sketching
Steps
Cut the tomato in half.
Look closely at the inside.
Notice the seeds, chambers, gel, and flesh.
Try cutting another tomato in a different direction.
Compare what you see.
If you want, sketch the inside of the tomato.
What to Notice
Look closely before explaining the science.
You might notice:
How the seeds are arranged
The number of chambers
Different shapes created by the chambers
How much gel surrounds the seeds
Differences between two tomatoes
How the inside changes depending on where you make the cut
There isn't one right thing to notice. The goal is simply to look, compare, and wonder.
STEM Concepts
The inside of a tomato is organized into different structures.
The chambers hold the seeds, while the surrounding tissues provide support and protection.
The seeds are part of the tomato plant's reproductive system. Each seed contains the beginning of a new plant.
The juicy gel surrounding the seeds is another part of the tomato's structure, and its amount can vary from one tomato to another.
You don't need to explain all of that at once. Sometimes starting with “What do you notice?” is enough.
Keep the Conversation Going
As you explore the tomato, ask:
What did you notice first?
How many chambers can you see?
Are the chambers the same size?
Are the seeds arranged in a pattern?
What changes when you cut the tomato in a different direction?
Do all the tomatoes look the same inside?
Why do you think the seeds are inside the tomato?
You might even have your child draw what they see and then compare their drawing with another tomato.
Kitchen Science: This Week's CSA Dish
Blistered Tomatoes & Green Beans
After exploring the tomatoes, they can head straight into the kitchen. This simple side dish combines tomatoes, green beans, garlic, lemon, and a little oil.
Ingredients
2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 lb green beans
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced or minced
Juice and grated zest of 1 lemon
1–2 tbsp olive or avocado oil
1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
Directions
Add the tomatoes, green beans, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, oil, and salt to a skillet.
Cover and simmer until the green beans are cooked and the tomatoes have started to blister.
Mix everything together and serve.
How Kids Can Help
Washing the tomatoes and green beans
Trimming the green beans
Measuring ingredients
Adding ingredients to the skillet
Watching the tomatoes as they cook
Noticing changes in color, texture, and smell
Helping taste and describe the finished dish
Kid Skill Highlights
Color observation: noticing how the beet changes the color of the smoothie
Texture comparison: comparing raw and roasted beet
Prediction skills: guessing what will happen before blending
Measurement practice: measuring and adjusting ingredients
Kitchen confidence: participating in a real family recipe, and learning to adjust it
Cooking Reflection
Pick a couple of questions to ask while you're cooking or eating. You don't need to ask them all, just follow what your child is curious about.
What changed about the tomatoes as they cooked?
What did you notice first?
How did the tomatoes look before and after cooking?
How did the green beans change?
What happened to the tomato skins?
How did the smell change as everything cooked?
Did the tomatoes taste different after cooking?
Which part of the dish did you notice the most?
What surprised you?
Cooking Observations and The Science Behind Them
Cooking gives us another opportunity to notice how heat changes food.
Color: The tomatoes may become deeper in color as they heat, while the green beans can become brighter at first and then soften as they continue cooking.
Texture: The tomatoes soften as their structure breaks down with heat. The green beans also become less crisp as they cook.
Skin: As the tomatoes heat up, their skins can wrinkle and blister. The heat causes the water inside the tomato to move and the skin to loosen and change.
Moisture: Tomatoes contain a lot of water. As they cook, some of that moisture is released into the skillet, while the tomatoes themselves become softer.
Aroma: Heat also changes the smells coming from the food. Garlic, lemon, and the tomatoes release different aromas as they warm, giving us another way to notice what is happening.
You don't need to explain all of the science while you're cooking. Sometimes simply noticing a change and asking, "Why do you think that happened?" is enough to start the conversation.
Science Words to Know
You don't need to memorize these words! They're simply useful vocabulary for describing what you're noticing.
Seed: The part of a plant that can grow into a new plant.
Fruit: A plant structure that develops from a flower and contains seeds.
Chamber: A space or section inside something.
Structure: The way the parts of something are arranged.
Observe: To look closely and notice what is happening.
Closing
This week's tomatoes gave us a simple reason to slow down and look a little closer.
Something we might normally slice up for a meal became an opportunity to notice seeds, patterns, chambers, structure, and the way a tomato changes when we cook it.
That's one of my favorite things about using food for learning. We don't always need to create a lesson. Sometimes we just need to notice what's already in front of us.
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