Can Plants Grow in Rocks?

Ms. Tompkins went on a trip to Australia and while she was there she saw these trees growing in the rocks! She showed the picture to the students and asked them what they thought or wondered about this picture. 

Many students thought that there was soil under the rocks for the roots to go to. 

The students thought that plants can grow in rocks. We decided to test this idea. A small group of students were excited about this and decided to plant pumpkin seeds in some rocks. They said they needed to add water and put the seeds near the window to get sun. 

S.P described the process we took. "We put the rocks in and then we put in seeds and we pushed it in and then it’s going to grow. First it will grow roots, then a flower, then a green pumpkin, then a big orange pumpkin with a stem"

Ms.Tompkins- What do you think will happen?

M.W- it will grow up big to the sky

E.K- the seed in the rocks, a big one

A.A- what will happen to my seeds is... the seeds go over the rocks, it goes down in the rocks

A.Bh- if it doesn’t have any soil in it, it can't grow in the rocks, if we put it outside in the sun it could grow in the sun

Ms. Tompkins- there is no soil, do you think they will grow?

A.A- no soil, no grow

S.P- no, it’s not going to grow

M.W- yes they will grow with rocks

A.Bh- we need water

The students then said we needed to add water. So we poured some water into the cups.

M.W- it’s going to grow big

A.A- water is going to grow it, but we didn’t have soil

S.P- it’s not going to grow because it has no soil and we didn’t put it where it can get sun and air from the window. We should put them in the window 

We moved the cups into the window.

We became excited when the sprouts started to grow in the rocks!

M.W's stem began to grow

A.A- the plant is growing

A.B- A.Bh's is growing a little bit very slow, and M.W's is growing very fast

Ms. Tompkins- What do plants need to grow?

A.Bh- water, soil, sun and seeds

Ms. Tompkins- We planted ours without soil, how is it growing?

T.K- it has seeds

A.M- because of the rocks, the rocks are inside this water and sun. The seeds help the plant grow without soil because somedays me and my mom get a plant with rocks and it grows and grows 

Z.H- it will turn into a green pumpkin and then an orange pumpkin after

D.D- maybe the roots and the water and sun and the seed is helping it grow

A.B- in M.W's, the seed is opening and its attached to the stem

D.S- it's growing up and it will make orange pumpkin

D.K- it's growing from the rocks because some rocks, there must be nutrients inside the rocks to grow 

A.A- the plant is growing bigger and bigger 

V.A- how about it's going to grow more pumpkins

A.Bh- we talked about growing in the sun. Some grow slow and some plants grow fast.

We have been able to make some really detailed observations about the plants. Students were able to make comparisons between the different plants and share their theories about why certain seeds sprouted and others didn't. 

What amazing learning has come from a simple picture taken on vacation!

An Update on our Learning in November

We have been very busy! The students have become very comfortable with the program and have been showing so much improvement in their reading, writing and speaking.

We have been learning about different ways to do our 'daily writing'. We can label pictures, write and illustrate books, write a list, draw a picture and write a sentence about it or write our wonders. The quality of writing has improved since September, which in turn has helped the students with their reading! We have been so excited to see the incredible improvement in every student in the class!

E.M- My pumpkin seed is growing.
(In the picture it starts as a sprout on the right, then a yellow flower, then a green pumpkin and then an orange pumpkin!)

S.J writing about his creation

Writing about their building creations

Students have been asking a lot of questions about seeds (we are still growing pumpkin seeds), teeth (we had dental screening and a few students have begun to lose teeth), snow, water, and much more!

The students in Room 122 are very curious!

Wondering about the snow

Trying to make it stick together

Planting seeds in rocks

Wondering if the seeds will grow in rocks

Wondering about the colour of rain

Students are finding patterns everywhere! They have also been creating patterns during 'Thinking and Learning Time'.

Students have been creative during 'Thinking and Learning Time' creating many beautiful works of art. They have also been in Room 122 Library pretending to be teachers and librarians.

Naming the "man" (a toy that has appeared in our room) in our class 'Floppy'

November has been a great month of learning!

Patterns, Patterns, Everywhere!

We have been investigating patterns in class meetings and during Thinking and Learning Time. Students have been noticing patterns on their clothing and creating patterns using a variety of materials!

We set up a provocation for them to create patterns using natural materials.

Students began creating beautiful patterns on the light table and on mirrors.

During Thinking and Learning Time, students were creating patterns and then writing about them!

She cut out the paper and glued them together

P.D- "I see red purple, red purple, it is repeating itself"

 

A.M: "This is a animal patterns, it is AB pattern"

Patterns are found in building creations

We have learned about a lot of different types of patterns and using letters to describe and label them (i.e. the pattern above is blue, yellow, red, blue, yellow, red, etc. this would be an ABC pattern). 

What patterns can you find or make at home?

(Feel free to take a picture and send it in so your child can share their pattern with the class!)

We Remember

Remembrance Day is a very special day. To prepare, we had many discussions and read stories to help us understand peace and the poppy. At our school assembly, every class presents a wreath as a way to show we are remembering.

A variety of materials were put out on our craft table for students to create their own poppies. 

Many creative poppies were made to put on our wreath.

We played 'The Last Post' for the students to listen to and asked them what it made them think about. Here are some of their ideas:

D.K- made me think about the soldiers who fought so we don't have to

D.D- peace

C.C- peace

M.W- the poppies

S.P- a band

A.B- a trumpet

K.B- a piano

D.S- poppies

E.K- poppy

A.Bh- princesses coming

V.A- they not going to fight

A.A- stop fighting

E.M- celebrated because there is no more fighting

At our assembly today, there were many moving presentations from the choir, dance group and the band. K.B and D.R presented our wreath at the front of the school. 

We hope you took a moment today to thank those who have fought for our freedom.