Ask Me About Thursday, March 3, 2016

Today we started our day with a review of the mung bean sprouts video we saw earlier in the year.  We were getting ready to go to the Maryland Mobile Science Lab visit today by reviewing how seeds begin growing.  We learned a 4 syllable word that means to begin to grow.  Ask me to tell the word!
The mobile lab is a trailer that travels to different schools.  The Kindergarten students got a 25 minute program about farming in Maryland.  The watched a short video about farms in Montgomery County.  There are 540 farms in our county! Ask me to tell you some of the things I found out are grown in our county. 
Today you will notice your child is coming home with a piece of yarn around their neck.  It's actually a necklace and your child is an incubator for a seed.  Your child will want you to guess what is in the ziplock bag that is on the necklace.  There is a special gel in the bag that will keep the seed moist so the baby plant can open the seed.  The gel was first some crystals that they put in their little bag.  Ask me to tell you another thing the gel is used for besides providing water to the plant.  Mr. Snyder, the teacher in the mobile lab, put water in each little bag.  Over the next hour or two, we notice the crystals change into a gel.  Over the next few days, your child will see the seed coat get soft and split open, then the baby plant will open the seed and begin to grow.  The tiny ziplock bag needs to stay fairly warm, so that is why your child is wearing it.  They do not need to wear it tomorrow, but they can if they like as long as they keep it under their shirt or sweater.  If it warms up on the weekend, you could tape it to a window that gets sun to watch it sprout.  

I reminded the children to keep their seed necklace away from pets and younger children.  I know it's tempting to play with, but the seeds will not grow if they are being squeezed and played with, so as soon as possible, it would be good to get them in a place that is warm and near light.  You may want to plant the sprout in a cup with soil once it starts to grow.

Have a nice afternoon!
​Juliet