PLANTS! Watch us GROW! A school program.
Written by: Amy Cardin (aka Farmer Amy)
Plants aren’t the only thing growing around here! BHS 2nd grade students seem to have grown exponentially since their fall field trip back in September!
Late April and into early May we welcomed them back to focus on plants and gardening. Students learned about plant structures and functions in their dissection lab. Using different science tools, they studied a flower and a vegetable up close and personal. They used many skills like estimating, counting, measuring, labeling, discovering, dissecting, investigating and sharing.
They seeded, harvested, and tasted sunflower and pea microgreens, and learned the nutritional bonus of these superfoods. They investigated several growing areas around the farm including the greenhouse, pioneer garden, hoop house, and production garden, and the uses of these unique spaces.
They used succession planting techniques in creating lettuce bowls which will grow in their classrooms. They also took tomatoes and peppers seedlings from the greenhouse, and planted them right into the garden. Students used recycled spice jars as seed shakers and planted native Michigan Pollinator seeds to attract beneficial insects. Farmer Patty shared her gratitude for having these helping hands each day!
Students played a Seed Dispersal Game and learned how different plant seeds might move from place to place. Students drew a card from the “seed deck” and then had to disperse their seed according to the action on their card. The game board was a painted depiction of a bird’s eye view of Bowers Farm. Some of the seeds “moved” by wind, gravity, water, bursting open, the farmer planting seeds in their garden spaces, and by animals in a variety of different ways.
And no farm trip would be complete without visiting the animals. Focusing on what farm animals eat…spoiler alert…it’s PLANTS, the students found that nearly all of our animals are herbivores, with the scavenger omnivore poultry thrown in for good measure.
These intrepid botanists were huge helpers in the fields, and all throughout the farm. Keep on growing 2nd graders!
