Dear Parents:
During the last two weeks in October, your child had the opportunity to work in the outdoor classroom (Click here to see pictures of the activity). During his/her library time, your child read about bulbs, observed bulbs under a microscope and planted a bulb in the outdoor classroom. In addition, each classroom teacher received paper white bulbs to grow with the students. Paper whites grow indoors and allow the students to observe first hand how a bulb grows. Planting bulbs with children is a great way to introduce them to the concepts and joys of gardening. This activity sheet provides some ideas for you and some reinforcement activities for your child.
Please feel free to send your comments, observations and suggestions to gloveroutdoorclassroom@comcast.net
1. Grow paper whites at home. Instructions can be found at your local garden center or at The University of Indiana's "Great Plant Escape" website.
2. Plant your own bulb garden. A good resource is www.bestgardening.com
3. Do you know which end of a bulb is up? Have your child remove a garlic bulb from the clove. Where do you think the roots will develop? The stems? The leaves? Poke toothpicks in the clove and suspend it (bottom down) in a glass of water? See what happens.
4. Onions are bulbs too and you can use them to observe what happens inside a bulb as it grows. www.earthsbirthday.org provides a great activity for sprouting and dissecting onions.
5. A great web site for learning more about gardening with children is www.kidsgardening.com
6. For grades 3-5, read The Secret Garden by Frances Burnett with your child. For K-2, a great picture book is Paperwhite by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
ROOTS
STEM
NEW LEAVES
FLOWERS
BASAL PLATE
FOOD
TUNIC
SPRING
STEM
FLOWER
BULB
LEAF
1. Can you name some foods that are bulbs?
2. How are bulbs and seeds similar? Different?
3. Why do we plant most bulbs in the fall?
4. Challenge question: What is photosynthesis? How are we helping the earth by having an outdoor classroom?
You can download these activities as Adobe Acrobat PDF files
 |
|||||||||||