Young Botanists

Morah Katie: What does a botanist study?

Natan: They study plants.

Morah Katie: Can you tell me something most plants have?

Sofia: Leaves.

Sroli: Roots.

Natan: Stems.

Judah: Flowers.

Morah Katie: What do all plants need?

Clara: They need sunshine.

Sofia: They need water.

Sroli: They need dirt.

  

We used real vegetables to help us learn the different parts of the plant.

The children used their sense of smell to explore their new creation; their fingers touched the delicate leaves, the hearty celery, and the stiff petals of the artichoke flower.

They decided the onion was a smelly root.

We sorted pictures of parts of the plants under each real edible plant part.

We used art to further gain understanding of the plant.

The collage craft presents the children with an opportunity to create their own flower, while demonstrating their understanding of the plant structure.

The chalkboard wall on the playground provided a huge canvas for creativity and expression.

Natan: We need clouds for the rain.

We re-potted a plant to allow us to feel and hold roots.

To better understand the function of the stem of plants we ran an experiment.

What will happen if we put white carnations in colored water?

It turns out that stems do bring water from roots to the leaves and petals, proof was seen in our transformed flowers.

We tried the experiment with edible stems.

The celery is a stem vegetable, the leaves changed color!

We enjoyed eating plants for snack.

We looked at the bottom of asparagus and saw the tiny holes in the stem.

We put an asparagus stem in water to see if it would change color. 

We ate our favorite stems, celery. We drank water with straws to help us imagine the celery "sucking up" the water  to the leaves.
We often eat fruits at snack. We know it is fruit because we see seeds!

Olivia: I have a seed on my hand!
Sofia: The dragon fruit has a lot of seeds.

Sroli: The avocado has a big seed, it is called a pit. 

Morah Katie: Raise your hand if you are a botanist? (All raise hands) Tell me botanists, what do roots do?
Abigail: They're in the ground.
Natan: When it is windy roots make the plants not fall over.
Morah Katie: What do stems do?
Abigail: They suck up the water from roots.
Natan: Like when we put colored water in a jar and we put a stem with a flower in the jar and the flower turns a rainbow flower from the water in the jar.

Morah Katie: I remember our stem experiment. Tell me, what do leaves do? 
Abigail: Make food for the plant.
Morah Katie: What do flowers do?
Anton: Makes seeds.
Morah Katie: What part of the plant keeps seeds safe?
Isaac: The fruit.
Morah Katie: The fruit protect the seed so they can do what?
Anton: Grow more flowers.