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Friday, April 5, 2013

A Study of Plants and Trees

  • We spent many days at my husband's family farm to look for seeds and to look at the parts of plants.
The creek banks provide a good opportunity for observing tree roots.
  • We took cuttings from mature plants, put them in water, watched them take root, and planted them in pots.
  • We planted bulbs in clear containers inside the house.
    On the left are several of our plant cuttings. On the right are Paper White bulbs. The seed in front is the avocado seed we soaked in water for several weeks before it took root.
  • We soaked an avocado seed, watched it sprout and now have a sweet little tree! It took a long time for it to take root. We nearly gave up. But once the tree started growing, it grew pretty rapidly. The kids had fun measuring it each day to see how much it had grown.
    A March picture of "the guacamole tree"
  • We tried planting the top of a pineapple, but did not have success with this project.
  • We transplanted iris tubers in the yard.
  • We read "Grocery Store Botany" by Joan Elma Rahn. It has project recommendations at the end of each chapter that can be done using fruits and vegetables that most people have in their homes. It also talks about common vegetables and fruits and explains what part of the plant is eaten.
  • We planted our own garden in the backyard.
  • We learned to identify several different trees that can be found in our area by looking at the leaves and the bark.
  • We learned the names of common wildflowers and weeds in our area.


6 comments:

  1. Hey Kelley,
    So good to see you on WW!

    Can you tell me exactly how long those avocados took to sprout, bc I gave up on 2 of those buggers.

    Andrea has been keeping me up to date on you. I hope Taproot works out for all of us.

    xo,
    Sheila
    sureastheworld.com

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    1. Hi, Sheila! Nice to hear from you! The avocado seed took probably 2-3 weeks to show signs of anything happening. It began to crack and I almost gave up on it then. But when I looked, I could see the roots were starting to make their way out. The avocado seed was my favorite project for this block. We are loving this plant!

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  2. Lots of great ideas here! I love botany/farming/gardening - these subjects are so crucial for human beings yet are overlooked in most school settings - and as a homeschooler I think they can be part of our experience at every age and grade. :)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Kelly! I think you're right--these activities are fun and interesting for the whole family.

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  3. The botany lesson blocks is one of my favorites. It's a chance to bring out all those fun kitchen planting experiments I remember doing as a kid!

    Thank you for visiting Waldorf Wednesday. Hope to see you back this week!
    http://ourseasonsofjoy.com/waldorf-wednesday-link-up/waldorf-wednesday-31/

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  4. Thanks, Annette. Waldorf Wednesday is a great idea!

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