Summer SAVY 2016 (Session 4AM, Day 6) – Budding Botanist
Today was very mysterious!
Our budding botanists had some mysteries to solve today! First, we had two plants that were obviously in distress. Our mint plant was all droopy and one of our ivy plants was dying! We examined the plants and made scientific observations in order to determine what had gone wrong! The mint plant was droopy and had dry soil. Our scientists figured out that it needed water and sunlight because it was placed around the corner of the light source. By the end of class, it was already starting to perk up! The ivy plant, however, was in much worse shape. It was left in a room where there was no sunlight at all and it had no water source. The scientists determined that it was also needing water and sunlight, but because it had no light at all, it was in even worse shape than the mint. We gave it water and put it in the windowsill, but we are not sure if it can be saved. Having everything it needs is very important! They also made the connection that we also need sunlight for Vitamin D, water, and food. That was a very astute connection!
The next mystery involved determining if 7 mystery objects in Ziploc bags were plant based or something else. They were really using their powers of observation and having great discussion using evidence to determine what they were. However, only one person guessed the trickiest one – bee pollen! No one guessed the beeswax! They thought they were seeds! Other items were hemp oil, hemp hearts, beeswax, dates, dehydrated split peas, and chamomile tea (These were items that no one in the class was allergic to as well! That was tough because we have quite a variety of food allergies!). After the items and their uses were revealed (they were amazed that tea is from tea leaves), we talked about how important plants are to humans. They knew that we eat them, but they hadn’t made the connections to using them for clothing, fuel, as medicine, and so on. They were fascinated that they were wearing plants!
Finally, we began studying pollination and pollinators. Tomorrow will be very exciting because we will be using the microscopes again to investigate pollen and pollinators. They have absolutely loved using the microscopes! We will also creating our own pollinators!
Our experiments are also going well, and they enjoyed seeing the progress. The flowers are absorbing the colored water and that is making them change colors. The beans, for some, are starting to sprout. However, some have started sprouting fungi! We are going to be studying that a little closer tomorrow!
Reminder: Please be sure not to bring food items with peanuts and peanut butter. We have several students with severe allergies to peanuts.
Have a great night!
Dr. Mall
Leave a Response