MYSTERY VISITOR and TRANSPLANT DAY!!!

 

Tuesday, October 15th ~ Today we had a special visitor during Science. Mrs. Neisius' colleague, Mr. Ken Kramer, K-12 Education Specialist at University of Minnesota Southwest Research and Outreach Center, made the trip from Lamberton to Lakeview to check out our Hydroponics! Of course, we put him to work!

 

First, my water boys filled the buckets with distilled water. Using distilled water vs tap water ensures there are no "unwanted guests" affecting the growth of our seedlings. Then, the seedlings were unrolled on trays and ready to be transplanted into the buckets.

 

 

Next, the students were given a cotton ball and a seedling. They were instructed to carefully roll the seedling up in the cotton ball at the bottom of the stem, but at the top of the root. The purpose of the cotton ball is hold the seedling upright when transplanted into the bucket. 

 

 

Next, the plants were carefully lowered into the round openings of the lids. Each bucket was "fed" 7.5 ml of nutrient solution and now we will see what happens next!

 

SHAKE IT UP!

 

Monday, October 14th ~ The 2nd graders learned a little more about what is to come. They have been anticipating the transplanting of the seedlings into soil, but they suddenly realized that was not going to happen. When growing plants hydroponically, they will be growing in water. This brought about the discussion of the importance of soil and the fact that it stores the nutrients needed for the plants to grow. Well, that being said, we mixed up the nutrient solution today provided to our class through the University of Minnesota during Mrs. Neisius' class this summer. We took the two bags of solution, mixed each with 1 pint of water. When each were dissolved in their own jars, they were combined. This nutrient solution will be used to provide "food" for the plants as needed.



GROWIN' LIKE WEEDS!

 

Mrs. Neisius' 2nd Grade class has been amazed at how much their plants have gone and how quickly this happened! I guess now we know where the phrase "growin' like a weed" comes from.

 

 



 

Last week when we were rolling the corn seeds, we were a little sad that our cucumber seeds decided to nap a little longer and were having a hard time waking up. So, we have started some green bean seeds. Wow - they don't have a hard time gettin' outta bed and ready to roll!

PLANTS GONE WILD!



Elongation:  We rolled some of the small corn plants in paper towels which has given support to the plants' stems and has given the roots direction. The rolled plants were then placed in a container of water to allow the plants to elongate before we place them in the buckets of water and nutrients. We hope to accomplish that next step next week. Check back next week to see what has happened.

FROM SEED TO SPROUT!

 

 



Mrs. Baldwin's 3rd Grade Class:   We have been watching the fast growth of our corn plants! It took a couple of weeks for the seeds to germinate. (It has also taken Mrs. Baldwin awhile to keep up with this blog!) Once the seeds got started, things went quickly! We gave up on our cucumber seeds and will start some bean seeds instead (hoping for fast growth). After germination of the corn seeds, we then waited for the corn plants and roots to grow, so that we could then proceed with the next phase - elongation.

Elongation Day!

 

 

Monday, September 30 - 2nd Grade: Yeah! The corn is ready to roll! Today we were amazed at the root systems and leaves that were developing on the corn seeds. We rolled them in paper towels and will keep them nice and moist so the roots continue to grow and the leaves reach high into the sky. The kids are amazed at how much they are growing without any soil. :) They have no idea the exciting things to come!

 

You might ask about the cucumber seeds? Well, they haven't changed much, so we discussed how that is how science goes. We don't always know why something does or does not do as expected, but we made some predictions: maybe it was too wet, too cool or maybe it was just simply some "bad seeds."

 

 

1 Week after Germination

Monday, September 23 - Mrs. Neisius' 2nd Grade: Today we took a closer look at our seeds and measured the progress they had made. The corn seeds started to show evidence of roots and sprouts. The cucumber seeds are a bit pokier (or at least we are hoping they are just a bit pokey).