Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Planting Day!

The temperatures may be falling outside, but it's planting time in Miss Powers' classroom! Yesterday we began a unit on plants provided by AMSTI. My students were excited to observe a dry bean seed and a soaked bean seed and compare the two. They were shocked to find out what the inside of a seed looks like, and that each seed contains an embryo which has all of the plant parts enclosed in it. They were thrilled to learn that they were going to become botanists and observe their own plants grow over the next few weeks!


The students were divided into pairs to partner read about the plant that we are growing- the Brassica rapa, also called the Wisconsin Fast Plant. They learned that these seeds were specially developed to grow very quickly, and that they would be able to watch their entire life cycle. While they were discussing and learning about their plant, two pairs of students visited me at the teacher table to plant their seeds. The students did a wonderful job following directions while planting.
The students have already added many wonderful questions to our "Wonder Wall" about their plants. They are wondering how they will grow without sunlight? They are wondering how a flower will grow without something to pollinate it, and they are wondering how many days it will take to see their own plant sprout? I am so excited to watch my little botanists observe their plants as they develop. :)


Here are pictures of our planter quads and watering mats underneath our grow light!