Tag Archives: Biology

Magic beans at Cartmill 🌱

It the science area we have been learning how to record our findings in different ways.

To do this we have planted some magic beans (broad beans) in a jar to watch how it begins to grow. We noticed that after only a few days our beans started to sprout and change daily.

“Mine starting to pop out”

Using a Calendar we marked on the date of when we planted the beans and have been marking it everyday to show how long it takes to grow our beanstalk.

“why does it have that tooth?”

The children are super excited to grow a gigantic beanstalk. This got us talking more about how long it would take to grow the beanstalk.

Here are some of the predictions we marked on the Calendar

“30days”

“45days”

“48days”

“60days”

As the children observed the beans growing daily we have been talking about which part of the plant they can see?, what helps the plant stand up? and what do we think the roots do to help the plant.?

“it’s growing”

”what is the white bit?”

“It’s going to be gigantic “

Article 13 – I have the right to find out and share information

Article 28 – I have the right to an education

 

Life cycle of plants 🌱🪴🌷🌼

In the science area we have been learning all about the life cycle of plants.

We  have been noticing lots of dandelions growing in our gardens, so we decided to take a closer look at the dandelion and discover more about the plant.

First we observed the different stages of the plant in our glass box. Some of us  were keen to share what we already knew about dandelions.

“I’ve got dandelions in my garden”

“We can make a wish”

“They grow in the ground”

“They have yellow flowers”

After further discussion, some of us were able to name different parts of the plant.   To develop our knowledge further, we then looked at the petals and seeds up close under the microscope and through the magnifying glass.

“ They are hairy!”

As mini scientists, we have been busy carrying out some different experiments to discover more about the plant.

Experiment 1

We wanted to see if we could change the colour of the dandelions?

We place a few dandelions in different coloured water to see if they would change.
The dandelions remained bright yellow but maybe there are other flowers we could try?

Experiment 2

Are the fluffy dandelions seeds water resistant?

To investigate, we dipped the dandelions seed heads into the water and watched as the seeds repelled the water and puffed back into a ball when gently taken back out the water.
This must help to protect the seeds when it rains.

Experiment 3

Extracting the yellow colour from the petals to make yellow playdough.

We picked a big bunch of dandelion flowers from the garden then picked off the yellow petals and placed them into the pestle and mortar. We ground them a little before placing in a jar with nail varnish remover. After a few shakes of the jar the liquid became yellow. We later added this to our playdough.

“I’ve got tulips in my house”

Experiment 4

We wanted to see if we could change the colour of some white tulips.

We placed a few cut tulips in different coloured water to see if their petals would change. We watched in amazement as the petals in the blue water started to turn blue. As we observed the tulips more we discussed how the flower is having a big drink and absorbs the coloured water, the water travels up the stem and starts to change the colour of the petal.

“They drank the water.”

“Only mine has turned blue.”

Today we have been having a closer look at the tulips. We picked a petal off the flower and trapped it between a piece of plastic to make a slide for the microscope. The colour dye has shown up all the veins in the petals really well. Using the microscope we were able to see the finer details in the petals. 

“It’s got lots of lines”

“ I like the blue one it’s so blue”

We then dissected the flower to discover more. Inside the flower we found the stigma and anther with its pollen. These are all new words for the children.  We talked about how the bee collects the pollen to feed their young and help to pollinate the flowers. We cut up the stems of the flowers that were in coloured water and found that the red and blue colour was all the way up the stem.

”I’m cutting off the stem.”

“It’s sticky and gooey.”

“This looks like blood”

As we chatted away it got the children thinking and asking more questions.

The flowers in the green water did not change colour I wonder why? “Maybe it only drank a little water” or “ maybe because the stem is already green.”

Why did the one in the water not change? “Because it was just in white water”. 

“Where are the bee’s?”

The children have really enjoy taking part in the various experiences in our science area. I wonder were their new found knowledge and interests will lead us to next.

Article 13 – I have the right to find out and share information

Article 28 – I have the right to an education

 

Life cycle of frogs 🐸

This week at Cart mill we have been reading the book “The teeny Weeny tadpole”. This got us discussing the life cycle of frogs.

The life cycle of frogs is a super interesting part of life. Our children have been so fascinated with the four different stages of the metamorphosis process.

We have been learning that the frog goes though four different stages of life. Starting with the female frog laying eggs. Once the egg hatches, the tadpole is born with a tail.  As the tadpole increases in size it begins to grow legs and arms and soon becomes a froglet. The last stage is when the froglet grows into and adult frog and no longer has a tail.

“This tadpoles has legs”

“mine has arms and legs it’s a froglet”

Though the small world play in our water tray the children have been exploring the different stages of life and the environment frogs live in. We started off by making the frogspawn which we added to the water with plants, pebbles, logs, flowers, frogs, tadpoles, froglets and other insects we would find living in and about a pond. The children have been so engaged in their play, discovering the tadpoles and froglets in the water. They have enjoyed comparing the different stages, putting them into order, building a habitat in and out of the water, lining up the frogs, creating frog family’s, splashing them into the water and most of all sharing their new found knowledge about the frogs life cycle.

We have also been very lucky to have a friend with a pond who has brought in some of their tadpoles for us to get a up close look. The tadpoles are around 5 weeks old and have started growing legs.

The children have been very curious about the tadpoles and have been asking lot of different questions.

“Where did they come from?”

“Are they real tadpoles?”

“When will they be frogs?”

Some of the children have also been busy coming up with some names.  So far we have Stormy, Bob, Keekey, Tommy, Boo-boo, Tingy, and Lady.

We hope the tadpoles come and visit again so so that we can see the change in them.🐸