The Garden Boxes
(Responsibility, Ownership)
Three children went out to document a task. What was happening out in the playground? Their responsibility was to observe what was happening, gather the information and inform the rest of the children. There were 4 new garden pots in the Early Years garden. What were they for?
The 3 children observed the activities and used the class iPads to take photographs. They used the photos to create 3 short videos to share their information in English, Korean and Mandarin.
The children shared the videos with the class, informing others about the events. We had 3 plants left. We went outside to decide on our next step.
Noah “I see 3 trees.”
Kenan “Me see 3 trees.”
Tracey “I see some lines on the branches.”
Olivia “I see a box.”
Tracey “But that one don’t have it because we didn’t put.”
We had to decide who would get to put the plants in the boxes. We tried various groups to decide on the right number of people that would work together.
The children made suggestions on the number of children in each group.
- What about 3 in each group?
- Can we do 7 and 7?
- Can we have 6 and 7 and 1?
- Can we have 4 in each group?
This seemed the best number for each group. We had one person left over and she joined one group of 4. Then we were ready to plant.
Ms. Dora helped us put the plants into the boxes. Then, we added more soil to the left-over garden box and planted the 3 plants. Then, we watered the plants.
We sat down to take notes and sketch our thoughts on our notebooks. While drawing, we thought about the questions we had about the plants and the garden boxes.
Patrick “Why are there no leaves on the plants? It is only October, is it too cold?”
Conceptual Understandings:
Living things: Students understand that living things have basic needs, including food and water.
Inquiry Skills
- Pose and respond to questions.
- Participate in guided investigations and make observations using the senses.
- Share observations and ideas.
