Seed Investigation

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of facilitating a science lesson about seeds in my daughter's first grade class. Spring is the perfect time to teach about plants and their growth since children can literally watch plants spring forth from the ground or leaves unfurl from tree's branches.

In case you want to investigate seeds with your little ones, I thought I'd share the basics of our lesson yesterday and a couple of wonderful books to support it.

Materials
For each small group of children:

• a baggie with an assortment of seeds, such as sunflower, corn, etc. (I just scooped a bit out of our bag of birdseed, so it also had millet)
• 1 or 2 large dry bean seeds (e.g kidney bean, lima bean)
• 1 or 2 large bean seeds that have been soaked in water overnight (Use the same kind as the dried one).
• colored pencils (optional)

For each child

• hand lens/magnifying glass for each child (optional)
• pencil
• science notebook or paper

Nice Additions:

Plant Secrets by Emily Goodman and Phyllis Tildes

A Seed is Sleepy by Diana Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long

Procedure:

1. Share the baggies of seeds with students. Ask them to predict what they'll be learning about today. Activate their prior knowledge by encouraging children to share what they know about seeds. Record that information on a chart paper (or board, etc) and save it for the end of the lesson or unit, if you're completing a plants unit.  (Children often come to an investigation with inaccurate ideas. Once you've completed your lesson/unit, work as a class  to review their earlier ideas. Adjust the chart to reflect new learning. Revise statements as needed or cross out incorrect statements and and new ones). 
2. Read the opening pages of Plant Secrets. Ask children if they know what a seed's secret is. (It holds the beginnings of a tiny plant inside). If they'd don't know, don't tell them, yet. Let them discover it in the next section.
3. Distribute the large, dry beans. Let children investigate them in their groups. Encourage them to talk to each other about what they notice. 
4. Have students draw a picture of their beans, being sure to record any important details. Encourage each child to write some describing words about their beans, as well. Depending upon the age of your students, you may want to introduce the terms "characteristics" or "traits" as you describe the beans. (You may also wish to introduce the use of magnifying glasses here. For tips on developing students' observation skills and using magnifying lenses, check out the "Related Posts" listed below).
   
5. Share observations as a class. If they haven't done so, yet, encourage students to tap the beans on the desk and describe the seeds again.
6. Ask students to predict what would happen if they soaked the beans in water.
7. Distribute the soaked beans and repeat the observations. How have the seeds changed?
8. Gently break the seeds open (the side with a small light colored spot is the "hinge" side. Use toothpicks or your fingernails to split the seed open from the opposite side).
9. Ask students to look closely at the two halves. What do they notice? Have them make detailed drawings. 
10. Draw their attention to the side that holds the embryo- the beginnings of a new plant. (It will only be on one half of the seed). Have them look closely and draw it if they haven't already. Teach them the word embryo and have them label it. (Young children LOVE to learn big science words. Think about how many can rattle off the name of every dinosaur many grown-ups still can't manage to pronounce).
11. Show Sylvia Long's rendition of this view from A Seed is Sleepy. Ask students to compare the drawing to their seeds and drawings. Do they need to add more details?
12. If time allows, read A Seed Is Sleepy as a wrap-up. If not, read it as a follow-up/reinforcement on another day. (NOTE: Both of the books mentioned here dig into more than just seeds- they cover plant life cycles-so they can be used in many place during a plants unit).

Are you investigating plants or gardening with your children/students this spring? What have you done? Or, what will you be doing? Please share any tips you have.

Related Posts:
Top 10 Ways to Promote Science Inquiry
Seashell Investigation

On Gardening:
Planting Time
Gardening Without a Yard

Gardening Without a Yard

Yesterday, I blogged about our first planting session of this year's growing season. Gardening with children is a wonderful way to get them (and you) outside. Along the way, they'll learn about life cycles of plants, connections between plants and animals (such as the insects that pollinate the plants), and the food chain. For all of you homeschoolers and classroom teachers who need to meet state standards, there are many science standards to be learned through gardening. So put away those worksheets and start digging! Plus, another great benefit is that kids who grow their own food tend to want to eat it. What a great way to get your children or students to eat more vegetables.

To get started, look around your apartment building or school building and think creatively about possible gardening space. Be certain to ask permission from your landlord/Principal before proceeding.

Some examples:

1. I have one sister who lives in an apartment in Cambridge, MA. She has a small section of yard that was filled with random debris when she and her husband moved in. They cleaned the area out, brought in some compost, and started planting.


2. My other sister lives in San Francisco, CA. Along the side of the entry to her apartment, there's a narrow patch of land (maybe 3 feet wide) that was filled with weeds and other scrubby plants. After securing permission from her building management company, she cleared the weeds and planted a vegetable garden.


3. When I lived in an apartment in Newport, RI, I had no land available at all. But, I had access to a flat rooftop, so I planted herbs and lettuces in pots on the roof. I also had window boxes outside my windows. At the time, I filled them with flowers. Now, I'd mix lettuce and herbs in with the flowers instead.


4. Along the lines of my pots on the roof- perhaps you could plant in large pots or planters somewhere outside your building.


5. As a grade four teacher, I worked alongside my students to plant a small garden right outside our classroom windows. We planted all early vegetables such as those mentioned in my last post. Then, we'd enjoy a salad together before school let out for the summer (sometimes, when school got out very early in June, we'd fill out the salad by purchasing some extra greens. We always had enough radishes and small carrots by then).


6. Find someone like me who is willing to share their yard, rooftop, or community plot (see below) with you. Mikias and Jemberu don't have a garden at home but I'm happy to include them in my garden.

Ok, let's say, none of these options are viable for you. Now what?

1. If you're really motivated, you might look for a vacant lot in your neighborhood and organize a community garden. But that requires LOTS of work to even get started. (Be sure to research the legal and health steps you 'll need to take before venturing into this. Oftentimes, city soil is contaminated, and topsoil needs to be removed before growing food, so be careful. On the other hand, many cities can provide excellent composted soil from city compost facilities once the contaminated soil is removed).


2. Look for public garden plots that you can rent for a modest fee. You plant and work your plot and take home the food you grow. To find one, try googling "garden plots" plus the name of your city and state.

If you've read this far, but none of the above ideas appeal or can work for you and you still want to try your hand at gardening, try growing herbs and lettuces in your apartment or classroom. All you'll need is a sunny south-facing window and some pots filled with potting soil. These are available at your local garden center, which is also a great place to get advice about the plants, pots and soil that are best for your needs. Some of my favorite herbs to grow inside are basil, thyme, and rosemary.

For more information about vegetable gardening or gardening with children, try these resources:

1. The Vegetable Gardener's Bible by Edward C. Smith. This is my go-to book, even after all these years. It's great for the novice and experienced gardener alike. Smith recommends planting in raised beds. I use this system now, but it is not necessary to have a garden. Don't wait until you have the perfect raised beds to get started.
   
2. Roots, Shoots, Buckets, and Boots: Gardening Together with Children by Sharon Lovejoy. Directions are included for planting theme gardens such as a pizza patch (grow the fixin's to make your own pizza) a sunflower house, and container gardening.


3. Wildlife Gardening: How to Bring Birds and Bugs to Your Backyard by Martin Cox. This new DK book has wonderful photographs, background science information, and three different kinds of suggested activities: "Grow it," "Make it," and "Watch it." Directions included range from planting a tree ("Grow it") to making frog and toad homes or moth catchers ("Make it").

A few great read-alouds for younger children:

1. Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert (Also available in Spanish)


2. Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A-Z by Lois Ehlert (Also in Spanish)


3. Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert (Available in Spanish)


4. How Groundhog's Garden Grew by Lynne Cherry


5. A Seed is Sleepy by Diana Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long


6. The Reason for a Flower by Ruth Heller. Rhymes and bold, colorful illustrations explain pollination in flowers. Be careful of one innacuracy in the book- scientists no longer classify fungi (mushroms) as plants as is indicated at the end of the book (They're now in their own category so that there are plants, animals, fungi, and two others called monera and protista). As a teacher I always made this a point of discussion in my class and pulled more recent books and resources to share more current information.