Stage 1 – STEM Activity 12

How does your garden grow?

A plastic tray with 92 joined, small pots for planting seeds. The small pots are arranged in a rectangle grid with 12 pots across and 9 pots deep. All of the pots are filled with soil and half of the pots (all on the right hand side) contain small seedlings.

Description of activity

Students will design and plant a mini herb garden in an egg carton.
The suggested time for this activity is approximately 2 hours for:

exploration
planting the herb garden.

Plant growth will be observed over time at the teacher’s discretion.

Context

Students are able to recognise plants and animals as living things. They are able to give examples of plants and animals that live in the local area.

Students will observe and record the growth of herbs and discuss the needs of a plant. They will reflect on which plants are edible and how humans are reliant on other living things.

Outcomes

Skills

ST1-4WS investigates questions and predictions by collecting and recording data, sharing and reflecting on their experiences and comparing what they and others know
ST1-5WT uses a structured design process, everyday tools, materials, equipment and techniques to produce solutions that respond to identified needs and wants
MA1-2WM uses objects, diagrams and technology to explore mathematical problems
MA1-3WM supports conclusions by explaining or demonstrating how answers were obtained

Knowledge and understanding

ST1-10LW describes external features, changes in and growth of living things
ST1-11LW describes ways that different places in the environment provide for the needs of living things
ST1-14BE describes a range of places and spaces in the local environment and how their purposes influence their design
ST1-15I describes a range of familiar information sources and technologies and how their purposes influence their design
MA1-6NA uses a range of mental strategies and concrete materials for multiplication and division
MA1-7NA represents and models halves, quarters and eighths
MA1-9MG measures, records, compares and estimates lengths and distances using uniform informal units, metres and centimetres
MA1-17SP gathers and organises data, displays data in lists, tables and picture graphs, and interprets the results
PHS1.12 recognises that positive health choices can promote wellbeing

Resources

Empty egg cartons (size depending on the number work you wish to do, lids should be removed in advance), paddle-pop sticks, plastic spoons, cardboard
Plastic or hard-boiled eggs, a variety of herb seedlings, soil
A camera

Work, health and safety

Check relevant Work, health and safety guidelines.
Some students may be allergic to traces of egg or to spores in the soil ensure cartons are clean and have plastic seedling trays available as an alternative.

Evidence of work for assessment purposes

Labelled drawing of the herb garden design which shows fractions of halves, quarters and eighths
A completed observation table showing drawings of plant growth, descriptive statements and measurements in centimetres
Photographs taken by students which demonstrate different stages of growth

STEM teaching and learning activities

Show students an empty egg carton. As a class, count how many eggs the carton can hold.
Reflect upon the layout of an egg carton. Students use eggs to explore how many groups of 2, 3, 4 and 6 will fit into the carton.
Introduce students to the term ‘half’. It is important to emphasise that ‘half’ is not just two parts but two equal parts. In pairs, ask students to model how many eggs would fill half the carton. Do the same for the term ‘quarter’.
View Herbs for cooking, medicine and fighting vampires. As a class, write a definition for herb. Ask the students why using herbs can be a positive health choice.
Students observe images and/or seedlings of common herbs. Discuss the name of the herb, when the herbs might be used, describe their appearance. Provide students with a sensory experience by allowing them to feel and smell the seedlings.
Explain to students that they will design and plant a mini herb garden using an egg carton. Their herb garden must be divided into sections which are either halves or quarters. Each section will hold a different species of herb. All spaces in the egg carton should be used.
Students draw a labelled diagram showing the layout of their mini garden. They label each section as a half or a quarter and show which herbs will be planted.
Students use plastic spoons to fill their egg carton with soil.
View and sing The needs of a plant and allow students to reflect on prior gardening experiences.
As a class, write a list of care instructions needed to ensure the mini herb gardens grow and determine the best location for them to thrive.
As a class, determine ways to record plant growth, eg measurement using a scale, photographic record, how frequently measurements should be recorded.
Distribute herb seedlings for students to plant in their egg cartons. A paddle-pop stick should be placed into the soil vertically in one of the sections to assist with the monitoring of growth. Students will mark the paddle-pop stick as the herb grows and then measure the level of markings with a ruler. Students can use cardboard to create labels for their herbs.
Students take a tour around the school to determine how different areas and spaces are used.
- What areas are used as garden spaces?
- What conditions make those areas suitable for garden growth?
- What factors would make an area unsuitable for garden growth?
Place the mini herb gardens in a suitable place for students to look after and observe over a few weeks.
Provide students with an observation table to complete over a period of time. Students record plant growth accurately in centimetres and photographically.
Share student observations and discuss similarities and differences between their findings.

Vocabulary list

Edible – something which is safe for people to eat
Germination – when the first root sprouts from a seed
Herb – a plant which is used in medicines or to flavour food. Herb is short for herbaceous
Seed – a small object produced by a plant from which another plant can grow
Seedling – an infant plant grown from a seed
Soil – the top layer of earth in which plants grow
Species – a group of plants or animals that share characteristic features

Key inquiry questions

What are the needs of plants?
Guide students to an understanding that plants have five basic needs: air, light, soil, space and water. Students can compare these needs to the needs of animals.

Encourage students to reflect on actions that people can take to help plants to grow. These might include pruning, using fertiliser and compost, removing weeds, fencing off space for plants, using greenhouses, developing irrigation systems, educating others about how to look after plants.

How do people interact with living things?
Assist students to generate a list of ways people interact with living things. These activities may include eating and drinking, gardening, conservation efforts, transportation, using animal and plant by-products, eg honey, wool, leather and resin, owning pets.

Additional information

The following statements outline some common preconceived ideas that many students hold, which are scientifically inaccurate and may impede student understanding.

Plants can live forever as long as their needs are met
Plants have life cycles. Some plants are called annuals. Annuals complete their life cycle in just one season. Plants which are called biennials complete their life cycle over two seasons. Plants which live for three seasons or longer are called perennials.

Plants need people to look after them
Many plants survive independently if their needs are met by their habitat. All living things are suited to their environments. This is why they survive. The features that enable living things to survive in their environment are called ‘adaptations’. Problems occur when the environment changes, then the living things that were adapted to live in that environment are no longer adapted because the environment has changed. This means that those living things will probably die.

Support materials

Short video: Herbs for cooking, medicine and fighting vampires
YouTube video: The needs of a plant
Create a soil environment: student interactive
Fraction Flags: student interactive

Diversity of learners

For additional support

Students may work collaboratively to complete this task.
Provide students with a template diagram of an egg carton.

For extension

Students explore ways the herbs from their mini garden could be used in a recipe or product.
Students test how depriving a plant of one or more of its needs affects its growth. They could compare their observations to those from a flourishing plant.
Students investigate garden designs (not necessarily based in egg cartons) which can be divided into a variety of fractions, eg eighths, thirds, fifths, etc.
Students investigate how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people identified and used plants for eating and medicinal purposes. With the assistance of a local Indigenous guide, students could explore plants which are native to the local area. Students could learn about the ways in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people value and protect the Earth’s natural resources.
Students create a photographic journal of the establishment and growth of their herb garden. The photographs can be organised as a PowerPoint presentation or used to create a stop-motion video.

Review

In this STEM activity students monitored changes and growth patterns in plants and refined their understanding of the needs of a plant. Students reflected upon the ways in which people can take care of living things. In Stage 2, students will classify and contrast living and non-living things. They will sequence stages in the life cycles of living things. In Science Stage 4, students will deepen their knowledge of biology relating the structure and function of living things to their classification, survival and reproduction. Students drew upon their knowledge of equal groupings and simple fractions to divide their mini garden into sections.

Students have worked scientifically by using their senses to make observations and describing changes in the appearance of their herbs. Students have worked technologically by using a range of everyday tools and materials to create a mini garden which provides for the needs of a plant. They have used cameras to communicate relevant information. In later Stages, students will use digital technologies and a variety of representations to share collected data. They will also draw upon prior knowledge to make predictions.