September 19

Plant Enrichment

My second grade botanists will learn the different ways a new plant begins- bulbs, cuttings, and seeds. (More information will be coming in future posts about some of these investigations.) Check out this strawberry begonia “raining” babies!


The plant unit is an easy one to enrich at home:

(Links are underlined.)

  • Take a trip to Callaway Gardens.  One of my favorite family destinations!
  • Visit the Atlanta Botanical Gardens or Gibbs Gardens.
  • Go to a nursery.  Look for ways that plants are categorized (annuals, perennials, bushes, flowering trees, etc.)
  • Visit one of the nearby nature centers- Chattahoochee Nature Center, Autrey Mill, or Dunwoody Nature Center.
  • Scoop up a plateful of soil and then find out what comprises it- rocks, pieces of plants, maybe a dead bug…
  • Ride your bikes on the Greenway and talk about the plants you see there.
  • Visit the new Pikes Nursery that recently opened near school.
  • Have your child buy a plant to care for in his/her room.
  • Fall is the perfect time of year to plant perennials and trees.
  • Find and compare seeds from the fruits and vegetables you eat at home.
  • Plant seeds.
  • Plant bulbs that will bloom next spring.
  • Go for a nature walk in the woods.  Look for plants that are deciduous and evergreen.
  • Collect leaves and sort them by their edges- lobed, toothed, and smooth.
  • Look for the different parts of plants that you eat during meals:
    seeds-rice, corn, nuts, beans
    stems-celery, asparagus
    roots- carrots, radishes
    leaves- lettuce, spinach, basil
    flowers- broccoli, cauliflower
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