For the past month, the Primary students have been studying plants. Spring is the perfect time to talk about plants as they begin growing all around us.
We began with roots and stems. Roots are typically the first part to emerge from a seed, drawing in water and nutrients and keeping the plants firmly in place. We had many examples of roots on our shelf—beets, radishes, carrots, and turnips. We also discussed stems, moving water and nutrients from the roots to the leaves. We put celery in a jar of red water which allows us to observe the movement of water from the jar to the top of the celery.
Our study continued with flowers, seeds, and fruit. We dissected a lily to help learn the names of the parts of a flower. We talked about delicious fruit and how it encourages animals to eat and carry the seeds to help more plants grow. We ate some mango to sweeten the conversation!
When we are in our outdoor classroom, we have been observing the plants as they emerge from the ground and the leaves appearing on the trees. Simply being in the outdoors can be one of the greatest learning experiences we can provide!
One of our parents, Ashley, helped us plant seeds to grow vegetables and herbs in our classroom garden. Some, like lettuce, will grow quickly enough for us to harvest and taste a little bit of our crop before the end of school. Others, like melons, will grow all summer and be ready for the Primary class next fall. Everyone will help take care of our garden and watch the plants grow.
