Lessons in the Garden
A garden is a big project. It requires time, attention, and patience. Even if you do not have a large garden, you can make learning bloom this spring. Find a sunny spot and create a small flower bed or plant a collection of plants in containers on your deck or balcony. Large spaces are not needed for a garden full of lessons. Your learning will grow when you take some time to plant some flowers.
The Science of Flowers
Flowers are beautiful and a welcome sight after a long winter. They are also living science textbooks. Every flower has its own requirements for soil, sun, and water. They also have their own challenges and pests. In Spring Learning Opportunities, you can learn more about using these to build your school lessons.
However, the science doesn’t stop there. What about doing a dissection? We all know that dissections are important for science study, but are often difficult to do in our homeschool. A flower dissection is a great alternative.
- Grow a flower from seed or seedling. Allow it to grow until the flower is in full bloom.
- Dig up the entire plant, including all the roots.
- Measure the roots and examine under a microscope.
- Dismantle the flower.
- Identify the pistil, stamin, style, stigma, ovary, receptacle, peduncle, anther, filament, petals, and sepal.
Please note that some flowers are self pollinating and others grow in male and female varieties. If you planted the latter, you will need to dissect both types to find everything.
Create a notebook for your findings. Draw a picture of each section. Inspect with a microscope or magnifying glass. Record measurements and what was learned. This is a fun activity to repeat later in the season, once the seed pods have developed.
Who else Enjoys Your Flowers?
A flower garden can be a welcome place to spend family time. Who else is stopping by, though? Any garden, even the smallest container garden, is a tiny ecosystem. Flowers attract and feed pollinators. They act as shelter for smaller insects. Flower beds can also be snack buffets for creatures big and small.
Start a garden journal where you document what creatures live and visit your flowers each day or week. Set up a regular schedule for inspecting your flowers. Make sure to check at different times of day and in various weather conditions. Who is climbing the flower stems in the bright sunshine? What about in the dark of night? What creatures are taking a little nibble in the rain? How about in the early morning?
Repelling pests is part of gardening. In some locations, it’s the only way there will be flowers to admire. However, consider leaving some plants open to nature to see what happens. This is a great hypothesis exercise. Who does your child think will show up? What actually happened?
How have you used gardening in your homeschool?
Ready for a Giveaway and $60+ in Homeschool Swag?
Giveaway and $60+ Swag bag!!
Could you use some free curriculum? If so, you’re going to love this giveaway! Now through Sunday, September 22, you can enter to win your choice of a science curriculum from Apologia!
To enter, just fill out the entry card below. You can pick and choose which entry options you complete, and along the way, you’ll find some fantastic new homeschool bloggers to follow!
In addition, by entering you will also receive a Digital Swag Bag valued at $60 – so everyone who enters gets free curriculum resources! You can find the details of the Swag Bag below the entry.
It is your responsibility to read the terms and conditions upon entering. Entering this giveaway signs you up for the following email newsletters: The Fervent Mama, Life Beyond the Lesson Plan, The Art Kit, Peace Creek on the Prairie, Brookdale House, My Joy-Filled Life, The Unexpected Homeschooler, Finding Joy in the Journey, and With the Huddlestons email if you aren’t already subscribed. The winner has 48 hours to claim their prize before a new winner is drawn. Giveaway ends September 22nd, 2019 at 12 AM CST.
Swag Bag Details:
All entrants will receive the Swag Bag (valued at $60) within 24 hours of the giveaway closing.
With the Huddlestons – Science Experiments That’ll Blow Your Mind It comes with 4 videos and printable worksheet pages that are needed to complete each experiment. This is the perfect self-paced course for the science explorer looking to be wow’d! This is a $20 course!
The Unexpected Homeschooler – Career Exploration Worksheets This is a course teens can do to explore what careers would be best for their personalities, interests, and strengths.
Peace Creek on the Prairie – The All About Animals an early childhood resource packet is filled with eleven lesson plans for elementary aged children to teach children valuable science lessons. $12 value
Brookdale House – Thirty Pages of Panda Themed Handwriting practice including letter tracing practice. The fun panda graphics will help your child look forward to the next page of practice.
The Art Kit – Outer Space 3-Part Cards (4 sheets that include Sun + Planets) and STEAM Challenge Color Mixing Activity Cards. $10 value.
https://www.theartkitblog.com/outer-space-3-part-planet-printable-cards/
https://www.theartkitblog.com/color-mixing-steam-challenge-cards-printable-pack/
The Fervent Mama – Our Bible Trivia for Kids Game Kit includes 54 printable pages of fun for ages Elementary and up! Valued at $15, each set of questions is sorted by difficulty and labeled by categories. There are 240 questions total; 40 Level 1, 60 Level 2, 110 Level 3, and a Bonus 30 adult questions. ($15 value)