This week at Selma Ave Elementary we invited in the fall season by planting carrot, radish, and lettuce seeds. An important concept for kids to grasp as seasons come and go is that in nature there is no beginning or end; life is cyclical through the return to the soil.
We explained this concept by acting out the lifecycle of a plant through fun yoga movement! The students crouched down into a ball like a sleeping seed, then slowly awakened to grow their roots, stood up to grow their stem, and reached their arms high like leaves, flowers, and fruit. Next, we all took a deep breath and dropped back down to the ground, symbolizing the seed’s return to the soil as the cycle starts over again.
Next, we explored the garden looking for plants that were at the end of their season, such as corn, and harvested any seeds from these crops to save for the next season. Finally, we planted our fall/winter crops. This lesson was modified for older students by focusing less on the lifecycle of a plant, and more on the anatomy and germination process of a seed. Grades 3-5 cut cross-sections of seeds and observed them through magnifying glasses, looking for the seed coat, endosperm, and embryo.
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