Students and Greenhouses

I teach 5th – 8th grade students. Some days that’s more difficult than it sounds. Other days it’s just as difficult as it sounds. Trying to keep young minds centered on what I am teaching is a challenge that I enjoy embracing.

This year I decided on a new approach to science. I have understood for quite some time that hands-on learning is definitely the way to go; however, I do not like the canned "experiments" in the text book. Most often these are so obvious even the students aren’t impressed.

Students want to see what they don't know. They want to see a world that has been hidden from them. Showing them how a rubber band flies is not impressive. Nuts and raisins is a mixture. . .not impressive. Ice melts and hot water produces steam. . .still not impressive. So, what impresses them? Plants!

Every year I introduce students to plants in one way or another. Each time I do, students are amazed at how plants respond. We look at seeds and see what is inside. We plant those seeds and watch them change. Students set their hopes on what the seeds will produce.

This year we tried a greenhouse. The greenhouse is relatively simple, but the concepts being learned are not. Students are delving into mass and plant growth. They will develop their own ideas about photosynthesis and soil nutrients. Even pH will be discussed in a new light.

We are currently growing tomatoes and beans. The tomatoes are more for entrepreneurship. Along the same lines will be summer flowers and a few other vegetables. Flowers and other vegetables can be cut and made to reproduce demonstrating another kind of reproduction.

The beans are an ongoing exploration. We began with looking at what is inside of a seed. Our question was, "Where does the plant come from?" Through investigation we were able to determine just where inside the seed the plant actually originates.

Then we asked the question, "Does the plant get its mass from the soil?" We will do our final weigh in on that question this week.

Students work very well without much pushing to find the answers to the questions. Each day they are excited to get to class and find out what new developments have occurred. Each student takes responsibility for his/her plant and wants to see the best results.

Before we do our final weigh in students will make predictions--based on what we have discussed about plants—to the answer to the question. Each student will review his/her hypothesis and make a prediction regarding it. Then we will weigh the plants and soil independently and see what has happened over the last two weeks.

From this we will begin a discussion on photosynthesis. We will discuss the amount of water the plant takes in and why carbon dioxide is important. As we move through the discussion, it is my hope, the student’s will examine what they have learned and put this to a new concept of photosynthesis.

It is my firm belief, "What a child learns for himself, from his own experiences, he never has to be taught." My father told me a long time ago, "The best teacher teaches himself/herself out of a job." As students learn to learn, they have less need to be taught.

Teacher's Corner
Offers a coupon on a greenhouse for teachers (single classroom use)