This year, we’ve learned a bit about plants – here are some highlights:

• The chemical equation for photosynthesis (Week 4) tells us that plants use sunlight energy, carbon dioxide, and water to produce molecules of glucose and oxygen.
• Plants have a cell wall and remain turgid in a hypotonic solution (Week 8).
• Plants are producers (Week 12), meaning they are the bridge between the sun (energy) and consumers (animals that need energy).
• Plants are central to the biogeochemical cycle (Week 14 and Week 15).

Now that we all agree that plants are really important and we wish we could have learned more about them, let’s make the most of our limited time and invest a few minutes learning more about plants:

Seeds are amazing!  They are a little packet of starter nutrients  and information (DNA) – and from a seed you can grow an entire plant which then produces more seeds!  Let’s appreciate the wonder of seeds by watching the video below showing seed germination:

Admit it – you really want to grow some plants now, right?  If you have access to some seeds and some soil, get to it!  If you have access to some scissors and some mint plants, take a cutting, place the cutting in water, wait a week, and your new mint plant will sprout roots and be ready to plant as a new mint plant!  Click here to meet Mr. Swart’s new mint plant starts.  If not, no worries – I’ve got you covered.  Back on April 25, the Swart Family Vegetable Garden was planted with seeds of 40 different types of vegetables.  Our work this week will involve a journey through the garden…

Return to Week 36 – Inferring with Evidence and continue working.