|
Hi!
I completely support the idea of having plants all year round. First of all, I believe that it teaches students a sense of responsibility because taking careof plants and harvesting them takes a lot of time and effort. It also allows them to take pride in their work. I was recently in a 5th grade classroom that had a tower garden. They have grown different crops all year round including arugula, swiss chard, and spinach. As soon as their plants are ready to be harvested, they have a salad party to sample their work. The students get very excited and feel a sense of accomplishment. In addition, having plants all year round allows for many different learning opportunites. They could observe the effects of different fertilizers, additives, pesticides, the abundance or lack of light each plant needs, and the amount of water the plant receives. The plants could also be related to math by measuring the height of the plants, the number of buds, the number of flowers, the length of the leaves, etc. Students could create graphs representing their findings over time. Writing could also be incorporated through a journal where students write observations of the plant each day and include specific science terminology. There are so many benefits to having plants year round!
|