How does your garden grow...
The garden is ready and this week we started planting. The children chose a variety of vegetables, herbs and flowers and under the guidance of their teachers, planted seeds in class allocated areas. It is now the responsibility of the children to ensure that the plants are watered and tended to. The children are very excited about this and at the moment are enthusiastic. They understand that this is a commitment and will be ongoing action if they want to manage and sustain the ecosystem they have created. Next we will look at possible threats to their ecosystem and consider ways to overcome any difficulties. Year 3 are already working alongside us for their Sharing The Planet Unit and are going to be making signs to keep other children away from the growth area. It is a truly collaborative project.
Preparing to Plant our year 5 eco garden
Year 5 have been looking at Ecosystems and Biomes during our Sharing The Planet Unit of Inquiry. We researched what sort of plants will grow well in our desert ecosystem and looked at what seeds need to germinate. We planned fair tests to investigate the best growing conditions. Mr Bruce James helped us a lot with our garden by building planters out of recycled pallets. It truly is an Eco Garden...we have recycled things that would otherwise have been thrown away. We can't wait to plant our seeds and watch them grow. We will show responsibility and commitment by watering them and looking after them. We will post more pictures as the plants grow. We are going to link the plant growth to Maths by measuring and recording our data using graphs.
On Monday 5A and 5E visited the Banyan Tree as a provocation for our new Unit of Inquiry on Sharing the Planet. Ryan was our guide and he was superb. The children learned about biomes and ecosystems and were given opportunities to track animals and inquire into which animal lived in which hole in the sand. We saw a wild Oryx close up and were lucky enough to spot a herd grazing under a tree. The children now have knowledge of many aspects of their local desert biome and the ecosystems found there. It was an excellent trip and the children are certainly inspired to start their Unit of Inquiry now with enthusiasm and curiosity.