"Digging" Science

Yes, ok, the title is a little punny -- but if you've ever met my dad, you know I couldn't resist a good (or bad) pun. My second-graders are in the middle helping to build a school garden. We've been doing research on plants, but I knew if I didn't get their hands dirty soon, there would be issues.

The big garden is not quite ready yet, but I figured a window herb garden would be just the ticket -- and if I could mix in some scientific methodology, even better.

I started with plastic cups, dirt (just a bag from the local box store -- nothing fancy), some seeds and some water. I also put together these gardening journal pages so they could document the process -- just like scientists do.

They had to measure, in grams, the amount of soil they added to their cups. They had to measure the depth they planted their seeds (in centimeters), and they had to measure, in milliliters, how much water they gave their plants. They loved it!

Plus, they will come every day to document their plants' progress -- because this is what scientists do. They measure. They observe. They document.

When their plants start to (hopefully) grow, we will work together to draw conclusions about what worked, what didn't, and what we may do the next time.

Their Directions

Soil Measuring Station

Seed-planting Station 

Watering Station