After exploring the FORM of a plant, the
children wanted to know what the FUNCTION of a plant is. We planted the
beans (seeds) in the soil and they recorded each change on their charts. The
roots grow down into the ground, and the stem and the leaves rise up, searching
for the sunlight. 
Olivia said that one of the
responsibilities that we've got when we take care of a plant is to water it,
but what happens to the water? Chloe thinks that the soil sucks up all the
water, but how does the plant drink up the water? How does it grow? 
After watching the movie " The
magic school bus - goes to seed" we came up with some answers. The roots
are very important, they suck up the water the same way we suck up water with a
straw. To understand this concept, we all used a straw to suck up water - just
like the roots. 
From the roots, the water travels
through the stem, all the way to the leaves. After this inquiry was answered,
the children were curious to find out how the plants feed themselves. Is water
enough? NO, plants need sunlight and carbon dioxide to grow. We looked at
leaves using a magnifying glass and we saw all the different textures that it's
got, the veins, and little dots, called pores. Through those pores, the leaves
breathe in the carbon dioxide, a gas that is released by cars, fabrics, smoke,
etc.
This whole process is called
PHOTOSYNTHESIS. The water, carbon dioxide and the sun (energy) mixed together form sugar
and oxygen. The plant feeds itself, by producing it's own food - SUGAR and exhales
the OXYGEN. From this exploration, the children understood that the function of
the roots is to keep the plant in the ground and to suck water up, that the
plant produces it's own food and that it helps people and animals
survive.
For the next week, we will assess our
knowledge by dramatizing the PHOTOSYNTHESIS process. The children are really
excited to share their knowledge with the other children.
