less boring

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Home : 2002 : April : 7

less boring
By Julianne

Here are a few less boring plant ideas:

Plant lima bean seeds against the sides of clear plastic cups so you can see the root formation as they grow.

Start seeds on a wet paper towel and place inside a ziplock bag. Kids
can watch the whole sprouting process.
Plant bean (or other fast growing seeds) in several cups. Deprive each cup of one thing a plant needs to grow - one gets no water, one gets no light, one is planted in sand so it gets no food, one is placed in the refrigerator so it gets no warmth. Have students predict what will happen to each cup. Be sure to have a "control" cup that gets

everything it needs.

Get three small houseplants - the kind with large leaves. Paint the underside of the leaves of one plant with petroleum jelly. Paint the top of the leaves on the second plant. Leave the third plant alone. Have students predict what will happen.

Start or buy a bean plant. When it is about 4" tall build a maze for it. Get a long, narrow box and cut pieces of cardboard to attach to the inside of the box in a simple maze. Leave a path for the plant to grow through. At the far end of the box cut a hole. Now put a lid on the box so that the only light that gets in comes through the hole. (Be sure to leave a way to water the plant.) Eventually the bean should wind its way through the maze and appear out the hole! Really!