It's a Tulip!

Planting and Growing Inquiry Continued

After a month of observing and wondering what was sprouting in front of our school, we learned that a rainbow of beautiful tulips were growing... not hostas.  It was so interesting to explore the different stages of tulip growth.  It was fun to guess what colour of tulips would grow in front of our school. 

While exploring the tulips this past week, some students were curious about the yellow piece inside the tulip.  Below is part of a conversation Ms. Marrella and I had with some students about what they thought it was.

Victoria – There is a yellow thing inside (the tulip).  I want to know if it’s for the bees to get the nectar.

Ms. Iagallo – Let’s ask some of our friends what they think that yellow thing is. 

Gabriel – Maybe it’s gonna be nectar because yellow is for nectar and bees use it to make honey.

Ms. Iagallo – Why would the bees want to fly to the tulip to get “nectar”?

Gabriel – Because they want to make honey for their kids and the grown-ups.

Emmett – Um, I remember when we went to the Toronto Public Library I saw a bee with black stripes and orange stripes.  It was going to a flower.

Ms. Iagallo – Did you see the bee reach the flower?  What did it do?

Emmett – Um, ya.  It, um, it gets the nectar and then goes to its honey nest and then bakes it into honey.

Ms. Iagallo – Has anyone seen what a bee does with its arms and legs when it touches a flower?

Ariyanna – Bees get the nectar by using its touch and then putting it in the beehive.

Aifie – A bee eats honey at the flower.

Alex – The bee has a jacket and a circle thing to suck up the nectar. 

All these wonders about bees, nectar and honey.  Next week we will be on the lookout for bees.  We will be taking a close look at what bees do when they buzz around the flower and learn what the "nectar" really is.  

Planting and Growing Inquiry Continued

Our Planting and Growing Inquiry has continued to evolve over the past few weeks.  We have focused our attention on observing the growth of the Hosta plants outside our school, and a plant called, Elephant Ear.

Hosta Observation

Over the month of April, our students have been observing Hostas growing in front of our school.  Recently, the students noticed a stem growing from the leaves and wondered what it would grow into.  

 A small group of students were interested in exploring what the stem could be.  With the guidance of Ms. Marrella, the students used the iPad and figured out that the Hosta plants they had been observing for a month, weren't Hostas!  

But what were they?  

The students used books to research what the stem could be.  They predicted a sunflower, an orchid, a rose, a bean flower and a sea flower.

Another small group of students compared images of an orchid, tulip and sunflower to the mystery plant on the table.  They discussed the similarities and differences when they compared the flowers in the pictures to the plant on the table.  Then they presented their findings to the class. 

We will continue to explore the mystery plant outside our school.  We look forward to reporting what we find out!

Elephant Ear Plant

Back in March, the students planted this large bulb called, Elephant Ear.  We planted the bulb, made some predictions and monitored its growth.  We didn't see much change or growth and wondered if anything was happening to the bulb under the soil. 

We were amazed to see that the bulb had grown roots and a pink beak-like piece to it.  We invited our students to share their thinking about the Elephant Ear bulb.  Then we decided to re-plant the bulb.  This time, we searched the internet for some videos that showed how to correctly plant Elephant Ear. 

 Now that we know the Elephant Ear plant is growing, we look forward to seeing how it transforms further. 

Planting and Growing Inquiry Continued

Our Planting and Growing inquiry is still going strong!  Over the past two weeks we have focused our attention on grass.  

The students began to take an interest in the jar with grass growing in it.  They enjoyed touching it and feeling the blades on the palms of their hands.  Ms. Marrella and I decided to have a conversation with our students about grass, and experiment with it by cutting it. 

Some students predicted that the grass would grow back based on their own experience with grass.  Other students wondered if cutting the grass would harm it as the grass blades were quite delicate.  As we waited to see what would happen to our cut grass, we decided to take a walk around the neighbourhood in search of grass. 

We invited our students to use the iPad and document the grass on our walk.  Unexpectedly, we began to notice different types of grass (shades of green and textures).  We decided to send a tweet to Ranger Ridley asking if there are different types of grass.

Our students also found a stick with green stuff on it.  They were curious about what it was, maybe grass?  One of our students was sure it was algae.  We asked Ranger Ridley what he thought. 

Interestingly, the front of our school grows the Hosta plant.  We noticed the finger like buds sprouting from the soil on our way back from one of our walks.  This plant stumped our students as they wondered if it was grass or not?  Hostas are green like grass, but thicker.  We have been watching and documenting the Hostas grow a little bigger every day.  Ms. Marrella and I took a small part of the plant for our students to explore up close.  

Finally, one of our plants died in the middle of the year.  We decided to re-plant this little tree in hopes that it might come back to life.  In preparation for this, our students choose a location behind the school, where the tree would get enough sun light, and not be stepped on by other children in our school.  Below are some pictures of our students planting this little tree.  

So many things to look forward to this week... the growth of grass, Hostas and maybe a tree!