Expedition News

Hi Families,
Has your child been talking about our plants and what we have been learning? Did he/she come home this week with just the old flower heads and stalk? We discovered that our plants have seed pods behind the old flower heads. Mira even donated her flowers (they were dried and shriveled up) for "research." I cut open the seed pod (under the document camera so that everyone had a close up), and we saw lots of baby seeds inside.
This sparked a discussion about what children wanted to do:
1.  leave the dead flowers and stalk on the plant so that the seeds mature
2.  cut off the flowers and stalk to help the bulb collect more food so that it will produce more flowers next
     year.
As a crew we voted. Two children chose to leave the flowers on the plant and 22 children voted to cut off the dead flowers and stalk. This resulted in the discovery that plants have a gooey, clear liquid called sap. We even saw the hole inside the stalk that water goes up to give the plant a drink! Life is so interesting when you are kindergarten scientists!
The plants will stay at school for a couple more weeks so that we can continue to discuss any changes. I ask that you collect your child's plant on Wednesday, March 21st, after school. The plant can be cared for at home. I will send an instruction sheet home also.

We are looking forward to our student-led conferences!
What a treat, to hear the children talk about their learning!

Kathy