Planting and Growing Inquiry Continued

Our Planting and Growing Inquiry has really bloomed this past week!  Here is a look at what we have discovered and learned.  

We discovered roots and stems sprouting from some of our jars.  We wondered about roots and how they worked.  So...

We explored roots from a dead orchid plant.  We observed SO MANY roots swirling around the dried soil.  We wondered why the roots did this?

Ms. Marrella and I provided our students with some resources that explained how roots function.  The students learned that roots are important for plant growth.  Not only do they look like straws for drinking, but they also act like them too - drinking up water and other nutrients to help plants grow strong and tall. 

Once we learned about what roots do, we wondered if all roots looked the same, so we took a vote.

Finally, we did an experiment with celery and coloured water.  Just like the roots of a plant, the celery drank up the coloured water.  WOW!

We have been documenting the stages of plant growth using watercolour paints.  This medium has given our students a chance to express their learning in an alternative way.   It has also provided our inquiry space with a beautiful backdrop display of the learning our students have done. 

In addition to watercolour paintings, we have created a chart to document and compare each plant's stages of growth.  

Something interesting we noticed this week was that one of our plants dropped all it's leaves.  We wondered why the plant would do this in the spring.  Though we are still investigating this, we noticed tiny baby leaves forming on this plant.

We also noticed that the soil shifted as the stems began to sprout.  How interesting!

Here is the latest image of our growing inquiry area.  Until next week...

The Glory of Gardening:

Hands in the dirt,

head in the sun,

heart with nature.

To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body,

but the soul.

Alfred Austin

Planting and Growing Inquiry

A few weeks ago I used two avocado seeds as part of a provocation table.  Ms. Marrella and I purposely didn't tell our students what these seeds were, as we wanted them to wonder about what the seeds could be.  

Not knowing what they were looking at, our students predicted the seeds to be eggs and some sort of nut.  They made connections to past learning we did about 3-D shapes and identified the seeds as being in the shape of a sphere.  One imaginative student explained that the seeds were round houses where a princess was growing inside.  

Ms. Marrella and I created a scrapbook for the students titled, "Look What We Are Exploring", and placed pictures, student observations, predictions and drawings about the avocado seeds in it.  Our intention was to honour student learning and encourage further exploration.  Though the book was on display for students to peruse through, we made it a point to share the book with our students daily and highlight any new pages that we added about their learning.    

Because our students showed such curiosity for the avocado seeds, Ms. Marrella and I decided to invite our students to explore seeds and plant growth though an inquiry.  

After exploring a variety of seeds, and noticing that they were all different shapes, sizes and colours, our students wondered how long it would take each seed to grow, and how they would look during the growing process.  Our students wondered if all plants grew in the same way. Our students were also curious about what makes a seed a seed.   

After labeling jars, our students planted... grass seeds, jewels, rocks, beans, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and Lima beans.  

After we planted all our seeds, we created a Growth Chart to keep track of the length of time it would take each seed to grow.  

We created a diagram and labeled it to show what a seed needs to grow.  

Finally, Ms. Marrella and I decided to add a bin of soil for students to explore as a sensory activity.

Our Planting and Growing Inquiry has just begun.  We can't wait for next week to share with you our new discoveries!