| Interactive Primary Bulletin 45 Lights, Camera, Action ..... | ||
|
Plants for Primary Pupils Investigations To many people, doing investigations seems to be the start of doing ‘real science’. There are plenty of these in Living processes and what plants need to grow . . . do seeds need water to germinate . . . or do they need light? . . . how strong are plants? . . . how fast do roots grow? . . . how does water travel through the plant? With the help of the ‘Planning plant’, children (and teachers) are led gently through the steps of an investigation - starting with the questions and what they want to find out, then leading to predictions, what they will do, how they will observe or measure, how to record and present their results and finally evaluate any results or conclusions from the investigation. There are ‘Pupil sheets’ to help children record results or observations from investigations, and in the different booklets, these sheets are designed to help children become more independent as they get older, or for teachers to adapt as appropriate for their class. |
 Figure 19 - The Planning Plant |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Figure 20 - Using a film can: Do plants need light to grow? |
||
 Figure 21 - Growing a sugar snap pea
Figure 22 - Loss of water from a plant |
Even from the first booklet, children have opportunities to grow their own plants using the well-tried techniques of a film pot (as long as film pots last in this digital age) or making observations of seedling growth through the lid of a Petri dish. This gives children the feeling of ownership of ‘their’ plant and the excitement of watching it grow. Full details are given of techniques that can be used for growing plants - in the classroom and outside - including the special benefits of having a light bank in the classroom. A section on Having fun growing plants comes in Living processes and what plants need to grow and this may provide ideas for activities in an after school club or for enthusiasts wanting to do more in the school grounds. This ‘having fun’ section gives details for growing geraniums (pelargoniums) from cuttings, growing potatoes in a bucket, growing bulbs and corms in a lemonade bottle or establishing a willow arch from pussy willow shoots . . . and lots more ideas to encourage children to get involved with plants both inside the classroom and outside in the school yard (using tubs or pots) or school grounds. Acknowledgements All drawings by Anne Bebbington and all photographs by John Bebbington FRPS. Thanks to the children of The Cavendish School for making all the models. References [1] September
2008 issue of Primary Osmosis [2] http://www-saps.plantsci.cam.ac.uk/docs/p4pp/pp4pintro.htm [3] www.field-studies-council.org/
|
|
