The Function of a Plant

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.

A change in our inquiry project - The growing process of a bean

After four days of measuring the length and watering the lollipops and the plants the children noticed a CHANGE.

The lollipops are the same length, so they didn’t grow yet, but the beans changed. The bean was 1.5cm when we planted it and right now it reached 2cm in length and a root is coming out.

The children were excited to observe and write down their observations. Then, two days later, the bean grew even more.

 It went from 2cm to 6cm and now has more roots.

How did this happen? We just watered it every day!

What a great way of exploring this inquiry! 

As a second assessment, the children received a brainstorm chart where they had some plants in the middle and arrows pointing out. They drew all their ideas about how to take care of a plant (RESPONSIBILITY)

The growing process of a lollipop and a bean

For the past few days we continued our inquiry and explored if Lollipops are living or non-living things. First we compared it to a plant that we dug out from the forest. We created a Venn Diagram to compare the similarities and differences.  The children said “a lollipop has a stick and a lollipop circle.” A plant has roots, leaves, flowers and petals, stem and soil. The only similarities that we found were that they both have scents and are both edible.

Afterwards, we made a chart with some of the important steps we need to follow to take care of a plant:

     ·      it needs soil

     ·      it needs water

     ·      it needs sun

     ·      it needs shade

     ·      it needs love and music

     ·      it needs pruning

     ·      it needs a place – garden, pot

After making this list of ways to CARE and be RESPONSIBLE for a plant, we started our exploration. We decorated the pots, we added 

soil, planted the lollipop, watered it and measured the length of it.  In a different pot we followed the same steps and planted a bean. In the next few days, we will record the changes on our chart. We will keep measuring the length, watering and singing to our plants.

Let’s see what will happen. Is a lollipop a living thing? The fire group will come up with the answer to their inquiry in the following few days.

Our project is displayed on the art shelves, by the IB profile word pots.

To assess their knowledge, the children received a piece of paper with the features of a plant and they had to match each word with the part that it belongs to (FORM).

 

Plants in our Midst - Formative week

The children were gathered as a group to assess their prior knowledge of living and non-living things in order to help us know more about the form of plants.  This is one of the key concepts 
(Form is the understanding that everything has a form with recognizable features that can be observed, identified, described and categorized). The group cooperated to create a Venn Diagram comparing a rock and a plant. After discussing the difference between living and non-living things, the children gathered into their small groups. This allows for more individual attention and sharing of ideas.
The group I was working with (the fire group) had a tray with different things on it. Their task was to discuss and decide what belongs to the living things category and what belongs to the non-living things category.

After we discussed as a group whether the things on the tray are living or non-living things, the children received a piece of paper on which they drew a picture of a living or non-living thing.
Emilie drew a lollipop and said that it is a living thing.  Before gathering, the children listened to “The Lollipop Tree Song” about a person who planted a lollipop stick in their backyard and it grew into a lollipop tree. From that song, Emilie got the impression that a lollipop is a living thing. Since the children showed an interest in this topic, we will start an inquiry. We will plant our own lollipop sticks, water and care for them, and measure them to see if they grow in order to determine whether they are living or non-living things.

Wednesday group - building a community

Building a community of care one question at a time

Close your eyes and imagine that you are walking on this bridge. What do you see ahead of you? What is behind you?

The children closed their eyes and they said that they saw a snake, a building and a school at the end of the bridge. From that idea we started building a community. I modeled the process by asking them one question at a time.

e.g Where do you live? After the answer, followed the second question:  Do you have a pet? 

Next Wednesday, the children will receive some cards and they will ask the other children one question at a time and build a community by following their answers.

On the board, there will be some profile words and the children will find the ones that describe the community that they are building.

Tuesday group - Ice cream seller

Tuesday’s group is exploring Olivia’s inquiry of making ice cream and selling it to the children using an ice cream truck. We all made a list of what we need:

·      To play some instruments and decide which sound we will choose to notify the children that the ice cream truck is in our community.

·      To build an ice cream truck

·      To go to the store to buy ingredients

The children enjoyed going for a walk all the way to the store and Olivia said that you have to be knowledgeable when you choose the ingredients. They all discussed as a group about what flavour of ice cream they should buy in order to satisfy their customers.

Monday Group - Firefighters

Monday group is interested in what it means to be a firefighter, a teacher, a cleaner, a construction worker and a vet. Today we explored being firefighters. We read the stories "Fire fighters" by Norma Simon and "Fire engines" by Anne Rockwell and the children identified two profile words. Isaak said that the fire fighters are knowledgeable about their job. It is very important to know what they need to do, because a fire can happen any time and they need to be ready to go. The children also observed from the pictures that the fire fighters are very organized – Natalya said that it is important to be organized because they are always in a hurry when something happens. Not having their stuff in a known place would give the fire fighters a hard time and they might not be on time to save the people.

Aston said that the fire fighters are very CARING. They’ve got a very important job in our community saving lives and buildings.

The children came up with a list of what we need to re-enact this job.

 The list included: fire bell, jacket, boots, hat, rain pants, fire truck, masks, hoses, ladder, pretend house on fire, fire department.

We will change the drama area into a fire department and we welcome all the parents and the children to come to our station and inquire about our responsibilities. Today we worked on getting our materials ready and next Monday we will re-enact a scene.