I think that an early project for a lot of classrooms is having the child learn about a plant's life cycle through the planting of a seed in a plastic bag. I was thrilled to see a sophisticated version of a self-sustained mini-garden by using bottles. Unfortunately, my kitchen does not face in the right direction to catch a lot of sun rays. Once those warm months come back around, I could try this project on my balcony. I chose a milder version for the kinder and first graders. We used plastic bottles!
Some of the seeds from the three pumpkins, along with a few left over herb seeds were used. So sorry for the lack of pictures. That's a crucial element to blogging and I forgot. I'm still getting used to the idea of documenting steps along the process.
Most of the children took their tender, young plants home. I used liter bottles and eyeballed around the circumference with a sharpie. I then made another marking two inches below the first marking. Then I sliced an opening with an Exacto knife so that the children could cut the circumference of the bottle with scissors.
I didn't have have screen material as suggested on http://www.designsponge.com/2010/05/we-like-it-wild-bottle-gardens.html. I had some remnants of tulle and cut those into 2.5" squares. I cut a few warp strings on each square so that a knotted string could pass through the hole. This part I did so that the kids wouldn't cut too big of a hole in the netting. They just had to examine the tulle, find the hole and pass the string through it and down the neck of the bottle. Children love water and dirt, so they ran to fill the bottom half of the bottle with water and came to fill the top half with dirt. That was it. You never have to water the plant; the string does the all "drinking" for the plant. The kids were eagerly watching every day for that one little sprout to appear. And it (they) did!
I didn't have have screen material as suggested on http://www.designsponge.com/2010/05/we-like-it-wild-bottle-gardens.html. I had some remnants of tulle and cut those into 2.5" squares. I cut a few warp strings on each square so that a knotted string could pass through the hole. This part I did so that the kids wouldn't cut too big of a hole in the netting. They just had to examine the tulle, find the hole and pass the string through it and down the neck of the bottle. Children love water and dirt, so they ran to fill the bottom half of the bottle with water and came to fill the top half with dirt. That was it. You never have to water the plant; the string does the all "drinking" for the plant. The kids were eagerly watching every day for that one little sprout to appear. And it (they) did!
Supplies:
1. water bottle
2. dirt
3. seeds, or small plants
4. marker
5. exacto knife
6. string
7. netting, or screen
Directions:
1. Mark the water bottle
2. Cut bottle according to markings
3. Cut netting into squares and place a small hole bit enough to pass a knotted string
4. Knot a length of string at one end
5. Pass the string through the netting into the neck of the bottle with string dangling
6. Fill bottom of bottle with water
7. Fill top of bottle with dirt and place inverted onto bottle's bottom
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