Plentiful Plants #7 - A Tour of Owen's Garden

Pulling a lettuce out

Planting 

Looking at the herbs

The children had a wonderful time visiting Owen's garden yesterday. Bronwyn and Owen gave us a tour around their lovely garden. They showed us the different types of lettuce, tomatoes, herbs, and many others. They even got to pick some lettuce from the garden and help Bronwyn plant some new ones. The children asked why there were flowers in the vegetable garden and Bronwyn explained that they need the flowers to attract bees and butterflies to pollinate the plants.  Owen was really eager to show us their compost bin. The children were really surprised to see the inside of the compost bin and Bronwyn opened the bottom flap to show the rich soil that formed from all the decomposition in the bin.

After the tour, the children had a snack made by Bronwyn and Owen. They made chive biscuits with the chive picked fresh from their garden. The children loved it!

Thank you Owen and Bronwyn!

Plentiful Plants #6 - How We Share the Planet

Looking for decomposers in the forest

In connection with our transdisciplinary theme How We Share the Planet, the children looked at the different parts of the food chain. The children learned producers, consumers (carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores) and decomposers. They understand the importance of each link and if one level is removed from the food chain, it can have disastrous results.

Alligators are carnivores

Herbivores!!!

Plentiful Plants #5 - Plant's Life Cycle

Mango seed

The children looked at a plant's life cycle. We talked about the plant starting off as a seed, which germinates and grows into a plant. Then the mature plant produces flowers, which are fertilized and produce seeds in a fruit or seedpod. The plant eventually dies, leaving the seeds which germinate to produce new plants. Next, we examined and tasted different fruit. The children were amazed that some of the seeds looked very different from what they had in mind. For example, some children thought that a honeydew only has one big seed and a mango does not have seeds at all.

honeydew seeds