CONVERSEMOS:
¿Crees que las plantas necesitan tierra para poder crecer? ¿Cómo podrías averiguarlo?
Pista...
Piensa en cómo le hicimos para averiguar si las semillas necesitan agua para crecer.
CONVERSEMOS:
¿Qué crees que va a suceder?
Compara las dos plantas de tomate. La de la izquierda creció en la tierra. La de la derecha creció en agua y sin tierra.
Conversemos: ¿Qué planta se ve más saludable? ¿Por qué?
CONVERSEMOS:
Nuestros experimentos mostraron que las plantas necesitan agua y tierra para crecer bien. ¿Qué otras cosas necesitan?
Conversemos:
¿Qué planta se te hace que se ve más saludable: la que creció en la luz o la que creció en la oscuridad?
¿Por qué opinas eso?
Draw the Radishes worksheet | 1 per student |
Crayons
Ideally each student will have green and yellow colors available.
Colored pencils or markers will also work.
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Details
2 crayons per student
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Aluminum Foil
Need enough to cover the aluminum pan.
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Details
3 feet per class
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Aluminum Pan
Must be large enough to hold half of the Dixie cups.
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Details
1 pan per class
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Baking Soda
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1 teaspoon per group |
Dixie Cups (3 oz)
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1 cup per group |
Dixie Cups (3 oz)
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2 cups per pair |
Paper Plates
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1 plate per group |
Spray Bottles
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1 bottle per group |
Sticker Labels (1" x 3")
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2 labels per pair |
Peat Pellets
You need to soak peat pellets in water so that they are moist enough.
Potting soil will also work. You will need about a quart of potting soil for a class of 24 students.
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Details
2 pellets per pair
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Radish Seeds
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1 3-gram packet per class |
This is a two-part activity. We recommend that you allow at least three days (up to one week) in between Part One and Part Two of the experiment to give the radish seeds time to germinate.
You will need access to a sunny windowsill for radish seeds to grow in the light. You will also need access to water so that you can fill up the spray bottles.
We suggest students work in pairs. Homeschool students can work on their own but will need to prepare at least two Dixie cups so that they can compare what happens to the plants in sunlight versus in the dark.
For each group of four students, put about ⅛ teaspoon radish seeds (at least 40 seeds) in a Dixie cup.
For each student (or one homeschool student), fill one Dixie cup halfway with moist potting soil. Or if you are using peat pellets, place one pellet in each cup, fill the cup with water, and let the pellet soak up the water for at least 30 minutes.
In each spray bottle, mix about 1 cup of water with about ¼ teaspoon of baking soda. Adding baking soda will inhibit mold growth in the soil, but won’t affect the plants.
After students complete Part One of this activity, they will need to wait at least three days (up to one week) to give the radish seeds time to germinate. Make sure to spray both the cups in the sunlight and the cups in the dark with water during this time.
When most of the leaves have come up, show Part Two of the activity.
Student slideshow: English | Spanish
Teacher printout: English & Spanish
After you complete the lesson and activity, try this extension.
After you complete the lesson and activity, try this extension.
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