Seeds Sprout and Minds Grow

The girls and I have been rather busy this summer. We have been swimming, going to the movies, going on adventures, exploring new places to play and meeting new friends. We have really been taking advantage of our break from school (all except for the sleeping-in part sigh).

However, the teacher in me wants to keep those little minds sharp, so we have been working on a fun science project that includes observation,writing, and coloring. We have watched a seed germinate and sprout. This project can be used and adapted for any age. It's so exciting too!

What you will need:

a seed (bean seeds are good, we used a cotton seed)

a ziploc sandwhich baggie

a paper towel

water

tape

sunny window

 

To start, fold your paper towel into fourths. Next, wet your paper towel and squeeze most of the water. It needs to be a little more than damp but not dripping. Place the wet paper towel in the baggie. If you need to manipulate the towel a bit to fit inside the baggie, that is fine. You just need to be able to close the baggie but not completely. The seed needs to gets air. Now place the seed in the bag. The seed needs to be between the wet paper towel and the baggie, so that you can see the seed. Tape the bag to a sunny window with the paper towel side of the bag facing the window and the seed side of the bag facing inside (you).

Now have a conversation with your child about being able to observe (scientific term) or watch the seed grow, like it would in the ground. Talk about what they think they may see each day. What do they think will happen first. Observe the seed in the bag and ask them to draw (and write) what they see.

We made seed journals out of folded copy paper. The girls stapled the paper in the middle and each day they record in their journals by drawing and writing what they see and how the seed changes.

The seed will sprout rather quickly, so the children see a change in the seed in the next day or two.

This is Day 6 of our seed. The seed sprouts fast. It is important to remember to observe your seed around the same time each day. We always do our observations and journaling after breakfast.

Around Day 4 you can introduce another scientific term, prediction (or guess). The child can guess what change they will see in the seed. Explain to them clearly that it is a guess and that it is OK to be wrong. If the child is wrong, they just get to learn something new. If the child is right, they can continue to observe and predict more of what changes the seed will make.

Once the stem pops from the seed shell, you can transplant the seed to a cup with soil in it, to continue to watch the plant grow.

Science with children is always fun and wondrous when they can see change happen. Growing a radish is also a good plant to try as they grow quickly and the children can eat the "vegetable" of their labor.

Hope you are having loads of fun this summer. Good luck with your sproutlings!

Heaps of Love,

Shannon