Plant Projects

The Unplugged Challenge theme for this week was "science". The science unit we've been working on is "plants".

We've been having a plant race.
On Wednesday, April 1st, Blaze and DH planted 4 kinds of seeds, Snow Peas, Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans, Sweet Peppers, and Birdhouse Gourds. Then Blaze and I made a paper race track to tape to the window above the flower pots.

On Saturday, April 11th, the pole beans were in the lead. Actually, one pole bean plant was the only plant to begin the race.




On April 15th we had a winner, without anyone else even leaving the starting gate.



April 16th, The Birdhouse Gourd finally started the race!



April 20th, the Birdhouse Gourd looks like it will take second place,



But wait, there is activity in the other two pots as well, especially in the pot of snow peas. The snow peas had a disadvantage, since the first set of seeds planted in the pot were eaten by squirrels, while all the pots sat outside after the initial planting, so these seeds are a back up team. Snow peas are fast growing, though, so they might still catch up with the gourd.


There is also something that is not a snow pea, that has sprouted in the snow pea pot.

We should make ribbons for the winners sometime this week.





The other plant project we started this week was an experiment to see the difference between plants grown with sun and those grown without.

We started with a big round pot of dirt and spread basil seeds evenly over all the soil.



Then we made sure the soil was good and wet.



This part went on for awhile because Blaze was enjoying the waterfall created by the water draining from the pot and running off the end of the picnic table ( I guess that was science, too, because we talked about how water will seek the lowest place it can go).



Next, We placed a circle of dark colored wool felt, with a smily face cut in it, over all the soil. I chose the felt because water could get through it, but light could not.



The final step was to place the pot where it would get plenty of sunlight, so it is now sitting in the garden, next to the scarecrow.



If this works the way I think it will, we should have a smily face made of plants, while the seeds that do not have light, do not grow. Since nothing has sprouted yet, I'll have to show the results in a future post.