We learned that while different types of seeds need different environments in order to germinate, all seeds need only two things: water and oxygen.
We have had a busy an exciting start to the year in the Year 4 classroom! In Biological Science this term, we have been exploring life cycles and the way living things depend on their environment. To bring the topic to life, the students planted borlotti beans to examine the germination process. We learned that while different types of seeds need different environments in order to germinate, all seeds need only two things: water and oxygen.
There was much excitement in the room when the first beans began to germinate, just a day after being planted in plastic bags with wet paper towel. It was an incredible way to explore how God creates all life, and that it is His power that sustains and nurtures even our small bean plants!
The students were so excited to come in each morning to see how much their bean plant had grown since the day before! They would dutifully give their seed a little bit of water each morning and measure their bean plant growth. It was lovely to see students also watering the plants of students who were away.
After two weeks of recording measurements, many bean sprouts had begun to outgrow their plastic bags, and last Friday the students were able to plant their seedlings in soil and bring them home! This week we used our collected data and measurements to graph the bean plant growth over a two-week period, to more closely examine any patterns we observed. I am sure we’ll hear bean plant updates from home over the next few weeks!
Along the same theme of life cycles, seeds and plants, the students created some fabulous sunflower artworks, inspired by the Dutch impressionist painter, Vincent Van Gogh and his famous sunflower artworks. The students drafted their artworks in pencil, traced the details in sharpie, then added colour with oil pastels and water colours using contrasting colours to make their artworks pop. What a blessing it is to use our creative talents to make some stunning artworks!
