Mrs. Nagle,

We were wondering when a good time would be to come over and show the kids the plant growth. We have finals two and a half weeks after we come back from break. If you could leave us a comment to let us know it would be great. We hope everyone has a fun and safe break!


Meg & Mariel

Mrs. Nagle,
When you view the pictures from previous weeks please let us know which weeks you have looked at so we can delete the old ones. You might want to save them as well : )

Mariel & Megan

The first results are in. Check out Mrs. Nagle's students plant growth in our album on Flickr. Check favorite links to find our pictures. Send us a comment!

Second Grade Class!
Get ready. Here they come! Is your lesson plan finished? Have you lined up the materials needed? Have you arranged the greenhouse with signs needed for student work? Let's get serious. And prepare to take those pictures so that we can post them on this blog for Mrs. Nagle's students to see. Send a comment about your progress for a grade.

Read about plant organs. Use the link under readings. Begin with roots! Give me an example of a plant you know with each type of root system. Leave your response in comments.

Watering house plants
Check the link to watering house plants. Read the information so that you have a better idea about how to manage your plants.

Work on your lesson plan for the second graders. I want to see a finished product by the end of the week.

Preparing the Lesson:

For additional ideas, read about "plant parts at work". See the link to this page.

Today please prepare a detailed outline of the lesson for Mrs. Nagle's class. You may work on the computer in room 106. Your work can be converted into a Smart Board lesson after you have provided the details.

Photography
Take digital photos of the greenhouse as it appears now.

Tomorrow
There should be more seeds planted for your own discovery purposes. Most of the plants in the greenhouse have been provided. Now let's see what you can do.

Daily Journals
Please be sure that you log in your daily accomplishments in your notebooks. Your notebook is one of the assessments that I will use for your grade at the end of the term. If you were absent on a given date, write the date, and the word ABSENT.

Today, after you have watered your plants, turn your attention to the lesson building task for November 8.

Homework: Check the blog for instructions and send a comment.

Planning a Lesson for Grade Two!
I have reviewed your comment and want to make the followng suggestions for your presentation to the students. It should be a presentation with more detail. What do you know about seeds that you will tell them? Tell me what you will tell them! You have not given me enough details.

They will bring in a seed collection. Their collection may have a mixture of monocots and dicots. They won't know which seeds belong to which category. You may want to have them make a poster collectively of all the types of seeds they brought in. Can they name the plants they came from? Could you teach them to draw a seed and label its parts?

You can prepare a presentation that tells the kids what a seed is. Explain that it has parts, and that in a dicot seed, they can easily see the parts. You might give them peanuts to look at and pull apart. You could talk about the different shapes and sizes of seeds. Have some other seeds to show them that were grown in the greenhouse. Ask them if they want to plant any of their seeds in their milk boxes. Or give them all the same kind of seed to plant in the boxes so they can compare the rates of growth. You will have to include some information about the seeds needs for germination. You might also have the children predict how seeds get dispersed from one place to another.

They should be able to return to school with a completed project that day that Mrs. Nagle can post on a bulleting board perhaps. After reading the seed collection information, do you have any other ideas for projects? We need more brainstorming so that this is an effective presentation and collaboration.

After you have read about the seed collection, design an activity for grade 2 students to do with the seeds that they have collected and are bringing with them in November. Post a comment to me explaining your ideas.

Seeds and Seed Germination

A lesson for Grade 2.

Garden Girls,
Please read about seed collections by clicking on the link under "Readings". Write for me what you know about dicot and monocot seeds. List their parts and functions. Also tell me what seeds need for germination. Consider modifying the seed collection activity for your students when they come with their seeds. If you have a question, click on comments and post your questions.

Welcome
It is a new year, and we are about to begin again. Please check out the links given to you for reseach. We want to begin with School gardens! Send me a post so that I know you can access this site. Thanks, Mrs. C

Final Assessment

Independent Study Students (Garden Girls)

During the next three weeks the following tasks must be accomplished as part of your final assessment.

Plants raised to be planted in the Memorial Garden

A. List the annuals and perennials that you plan to plant in the gardens.
B. Design your gardens (where, what, ). Clear your designs with me.
C. Schedule a day for planting. (When and how)
D. Schedule a day for showing me and the Principal the fruits of your labor.
E. Return wintering plants to owners.
F. Plant sunflowers plants outside beside the garden shed.
G. Inventory our equipment – on Excel file I will create for you.
H. List plants you want to have at home.
I. Clean equipment and store for summer.

J. Write in your journals what you have learned about the following things:

Seeds – factors affecting germination.
How to Root/propagate plants from stems and leaves.
Flowering – how to keep flowering plants flowering.
Fertilizing-how often, what to use.
Pests and pest control. What pests have you encountered? What control measures did you use?
Greenhouse maintenance - how were these factors controlled?
Temperature
Moisture
Light

Additional – recommendations for improving program.
Evaluation of the semester – good, bad, ugly include suggestions for other students.

Greenhouse Maintenance and Plant Studies
By
Susan M. Carnathan

May 5, 2007

Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School had just completed renovations which had disrupted the school for more than two years. The science labs reopened and the greenhouse that had been renovated for handicap access was once again available for use.
It was time to fill it with greenery. The revitalized greenhouse came with a new potting bench and wider access to plant tables. I had previously written and received a grant that allowed us to purchase a new garden shed that we located next to the greenhouse. This allowed us to store potting mixes, buckets, shovels, pots and boots! I knew little about running a greenhouse however.

I was teaching Ecology during semester one of the 2006-2007 academic year. I decided that one way I could get the greenhouse back up and running would be to have my Ecology students learn more about plants. We began by conducting a competition study planting bean seeds in pots, some with few and some with many.

The first day that I brought students into the greenhouse, it was a cloudy, rainy winter day. They stood in the empty greenhouse with the rain dropping noisily above their heads. Amazingly, they expressed their wonder and pleasure about just being in this big glass room. And then, getting their hands dirty at the potting bench was another joy. They asked daily to check on their plants. And their plants grew! They pressured me to allow them to plant other things. I searched my garden shed and found packets of seeds that were certainly more than two years old. We planted them. To our collective amazements, many of them grew. We had sunflowers, marigolds, coreopsis, herbs, lettuce, and radishes. The space was becoming greener and greener.

When the semester was coming to a close and final projects were submitted, I asked my students to reflect on their experience in the greenhouse. Their response was more than positive. I asked them to suggest how I might use their bean plants during the next semester’s Ecology class. They responded that no one should touch their plants! In fact, they asked if I would provide a course in horticulture semester two. I explained that it takes time to develop a curriculum and that new courses also had to be approved by the School Committee. There were only five days between semesters to accomplish this feat. I did say that I could offer an Independent Study Course for any students who could fit it into their second semester schedule. Within that day, several students appeared in the guidance office to sign up for this Independent Study. I rushed myself to the Principal to request his permission to proceed with my proposal. He was delighted to do so.


Two students were able to adjust their schedules to take an Independent Study in Horticulture. None of us knew anything about greenhouse management but all of us liked to work with plants. The School to Career Coordinator at D.Y. sent me a message that an Externship Grant was available. She wanted to know if I would be interested in applying. What timing! I immediately applied to learn about greenhouse management and the propagation of plants. I have since worked for three different nurseries, Country Garden, Hyannis, MA, Hart Farm, Dennisport, MA and Seashell Gardens, West Dennis, MA. The experience not only informative but also amazing!

Horticulture
An Independent Study Course
Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School

Course Objectives:
Students will learn how to:
1. maintain a greenhouse.
2. germinate seeds.
3. root plant cuttings and leaves.
4. choose fertilizers.
5. control pests.
6. water appropriately and monitor humidity.
7. design gardens.
8. Additional as necessary.