All About Plants and the New MTS Garden

The New MTS Garden

The second graders recently had their first chance to work in the new MTS garden! Lower School STEM teacher Julia Esser reviewed garden rules and tools, then students toured the space and began weeding the beds to prepare for planting. The class talked about why removing weeds matters (so they don’t take up space and nutrients from the plants we want to grow) and about how weeds might have gotten there. One student jokingly asked if Julia had planted the weeds on purpose for them to pull. The class also talked about how wind, birds, or other animals can carry seeds into the beds. The students had a lot of fun weeding, and they are excited to start planting another day this spring. 

Decomposers & the Scientific Method

Speaking of spring, spring is a great season to learn about plants. The second graders have continued their plant and garden explorations by learning about decomposers and what materials can decompose. The class discussed decomposers, such as worms, fungi, and bacteria. 

Second graders also discussed which materials can be broken down and processed by decomposers. Students began an investigation using the scientific method. First, they made a list of items to test and narrowed it down by voting. Then they worked in pairs to bury an item in the soil and wrote a prediction with their partner about whether it would decompose after two weeks. After recording their hypotheses on a chart, teams shared their predictions aloud, and they looked for any patterns in those ideas.

In two weeks, students will dig up the buried items, collect data on what happened, analyze their findings, and draw conclusions.

All About Plants!

The first graders have been learning all about plants! A few weeks ago, they planted mini-lawns with ryegrass and alfalfa seeds and have been closely watching them grow and change over time. The class also planted wheat seeds in clear straws to track growth and see how roots and stems develop from seeds beneath the soil. They learned the parts of plants and what plants need to survive: air, water, light, space, and soil. They also learned the vocabulary words "structure" and "function" of plant parts and what they do. Next, students mowed their mini lawns by cutting them to see what might happen next. Will they grow back, or will they stop growing? They will soon find out!