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Explore and Play: What Happened?

Check on the beans and grass you planted. What do you notice?

Materials

  • beans and grass planted in soil and plastic bags
  • magnifying glasses
  • “Our Plants” chart

Key Science Concepts

  • There are many different types of plants and seeds.
  • Plants grow from seeds.  

Vocabulary

Emphasize plant words like seed, roots, sprout, stalk, and leaves, as well as science process words like experiment, test, compare, describe, observe, and prediction.

Directions

  1. Gather children in the Watch Them Grow learning center and examine the bean and grass seeds in the plastic bags. Ask them what they notice. Have them use the magnifying glasses to get a closer look.
  2. Now look at the beans in the soil, and ask them what they observe. If they don’t see anything, ask them what they think is happening under the soil.
  3. Have one child take photos of the beans and another take photos of the grass to add to Day 4 of the “Our Plants” chart.

Reflect and Share

Ask children to describe what they observe:

  • How have the seeds changed since the last time you looked?
  • Did all of the seeds grow the same amount?  
  • How are the grass plants different from the bean plants?
  • Why do you think it is easier to see plants growing in the plastic bags than in the soil?
  • What do you think might be happening under the soil?
  • What part of the plant seems to be growing first? Why do you think so?