Studying How Things Grow in JK [videos & photos]

Junior Kindergarten classes are studying how things grow. In addition to the plants that grow in our school gardens, other tiny creatures live and grow there too. Danielle Parrott, seventh grade science teacher, visited Mrs. Minke’s junior kindergarten class this week. They looked at insects of all kinds - both preserved in jars and in Ms. Parrott's insect collection. They used magnifying glasses to get a closer look. Students reflected on how the insects were similar to and different from each other. Everyone had fun acting out the different types of wings and mouthparts that different garden bugs (butterflies, bees, and grasshoppers) have.

Next, the group learned about pollination. Using paper plate “flowers” with multi-colored bean “pollen,” the junior kindergarteners were able to role play butterflies helping with pollination. Paper party horns that unroll when blown resemble curled up butterfly mouthparts. Students used these and the butterfly wing motions they learned to fly from flower to flower. They took pollen from one flower and left it at another to show how pollination mixes up pollen from many flowers.

Upper School science teacher Mrs. Peck visited Mrs. Hahn’s junior kindergarten class to teach how leaves make food for the plant. She made a slide of an Elodea leaf, and students were able to use a microscope to peer at the cells. The children observed the cell walls, which are like Tupperware containers, giving strength and support to the cells (like our bones do for us). They also observed the chloroplasts, which the green plant cells use to make food during a process called photosynthesis. Mrs. Peck drew a picture that gave the children a visual aid in the classroom of how all the things she talked about work together in a plant or tree, and then the children set off to observe more cells with a microscope.

After reading the story "One Bean" in Mrs. Hahn’s junior kindergarten class, each student planted a bean inside a paper towel. They watered it with a few drops of water and will check to see if any changes occur over the next few days. On Tuesday, the class will plant the seedlings in soil and watch them grow. They will document the growth over the next month, and are looking forward to seeing how tall they get!

Video clips & photos here: