Botany~ Seed Week

Well we have been doing some seriously botany work! I decided that with all the seeds we planted, now would be a great time to start observing and learning about plants. We have done this theme many time before, but Pup has never done it and I wanted to get deeper with Bunny! Last year we studied seeds, and I made some fun Garden Theme Trays. This year, there are no trays (yet...you know me) and we are going full steam ahead with experiments! The girls are loving it so far! Here are the projects and experiments we have done so far this week!

Needs of Plants:

This is a Karen Tyler presentation. We talked about the needs of plants. Last week talked about the needs of living things. We talked about how plants need soil, water, air, and sun to grow!

 





 

Seed Sorting and Exploration:

Here I had a bowl of seeds for the girls to look at how different seeds can be. We had Summer Squash, Cucumber, Beans, Peas, and Corn. I also suggest that the girls sort the seeds by type and they did that for a while!

 

Measuring Seedlings:

Our seeds from a week ago have been growing like crazy and we thought it would be fun to measure them and write down the numbers. It will be cool to see how fast they grow and how much.

 

Seeds Need Light:

With all the little seedlings growing, it will the perfect time to observe how plants will move toward the light. We have been turning the trays around and coming back later on to see the plants leaning a different way! Always to the light! This was an experiment in the Elementary Albums, but instead of growing a special set of plants, we used what we had! I didnt even need to put them in a box with one side open to see them move, then do it all on their own!

 

Seeds Needs Experiment:

This is the pretty standard experiment. Into each cup we put wet cotton balls (one had dry cotton) and radish seeds. The we label the cup depending on what we do with each cup. One is in the dark, one is in the cold, one has no water, and one has everything. We will see how things grow and what is important. Bunny is really excited about this and has been checking things.

 

Parts of a Plant:

Bunny has done this work many times, but Pup hasnt yet, so today she had the office presentation! She loved it! We used the puzzle and then I showed her the cards. Each time we said the name of the part. At the end I asked her the name of each part and she knew them all! When we were finished, I offered her the opportunity to draw a picture or to trace the tree puzzle control chart. She loved this idea and traced the whole thing, even the words! :)

 

 

 

So that is what we have been up to with Botany! The girls are having fun and so am I! I have broken down the lessons to go by Part of the plant. This week we did an overview of the parts and we also talked about seeds. Next week we talk about leaves, the week after we talk about roots, then we will talk about the stem, then we will hit the flower and end with the fruit (and maybe talk more about seeds then too). If you want to see some more ideas of gardening with kids, stop on by my Gardening Post! You can also find some Gardening Trays, and some Spring Trays here! I hope you are having a great school week and happy spring!