Field Investigations!

Hey Science Friends,

At my school we are so lucky to be a part of Real School Gardens. We were able to participate in a visit from Real School Gardens this week. As part of our Science Objectives for our state we are required to have field investigations for a large majority of our Science time. Having a school garden really helps to make those investigations meaningful and interesting.

 

 

This visit came at the perfect time for my class. We have talked so much about investigating with My Five Senses. We were able to discuss Properties of Matter and use some wonderful sensory language as we worked our way through the garden. We were all amazed at how many different textures we were able to feel. And you know we had to touch everything...

 

 

So, off we went investigating...

 

 

We even stopped for a minute to listen...

 

 

We were able to observe quite a few butterflies around the butterfly bushes. They stayed around us for a while and we were able to watch them and see them up close.

 

 

 We were able to see bees working in the bushes too!

 

 

 We found some interesting textures and used some great sensory language to describe what we could feel.

 

 

 We discovered living things.

 

 

And non living things.

 

 

And even some living things living in non living things, oh my!

 

 

And we finally learned what these are... This is where the earthworms will come up for air the next time it rains. And we are sure going to be looking for that!

 

 

 We collected some interesting things. And wondered what some of them were.

 

 

Some collections were small.

 

 

And some were strange.

 

 

And on our last trip around the garden we started to notice something...

 

 

So we had to talk about it and problem solve.

 

 

 We made a plan and put our plan into action!

 

 

And we learned that we can solve problems...even big problems.

 

 

And then we were ready...to play!

 

 





My Garden

I was shopping with a teacher friend today waiting on brunch. We decided to go to Barnes and Noble which seemed appropriate since we both share a love of children's books. I saw this book and had to pick it up and read it. I think the cover drew me in because I love to garden. As I read the book it made me think of my mother who can make the most beat up and battered clearance plant somehow grow and thrive. As a child I have to admit I HATED gardening. We had to help with those pesky lawn chores before we could do anything fun. I could live to be 100 and never ever forget the worst garden chore I was ever given...I once had to scrub and clean the landscape rocks. 

When I was cleaning those dreaded rocks I can still remember exactly what I was thinking. I wondered just how many rocks there actually were...too many to count. How long would it take...forever. How many kids had to do stuff like this..none, just me, poor little ol me. I wondered didn't someone, somewhere invent something that would do this rock cleaning job for me? If we can send a man to the moon then why am I cleaning rocks with a toothbrush? And why, oh why, was an old toothbrush the tool given to the youngest child? In my moments of despair I wondered if we couldn't just wait for a big rain and maybe mother nature could take this task off my hands!

In the book My Garden, a little girl recalls helping her mother water and weed her garden. The little girl then imagines her own garden...just like me. In her garden there would be a jellybean bush, rabbits wouldn't eat the lettuce because they would be chocolate rabbits and there would be eternal flowers that changed colors and patterns. In my garden, flowers would always bloom, the sun would always shine, rainbows could always be seen and mother nature would take care of cleaning the landscape rocks!

Fall Crop

As we continue to learn about plants and plant parts, we had a few moments to plant lettuce seeds in our Spirit  Garden. We are hoping for a good fall crop of lettuce to enjoy and share together. 

Last spring our lettuce crop was bountiful and we enjoyed weeks and weeks of salad parties. It was the best lettuce I swear I have ever eaten in my life. 

These baskets are filled with just ONE harvest, there was TONS of lettuce still in the garden. We had a lot of fun cleaning and preparing for our salad party.