This week in Science, our Year 2 children have begun a comparative test to explore how plants grow.
The children planted two sunflower seeds in identical pots. To make it a fair test, they are keeping the soil and water the same, but changing the amount of natural light each plant receives.
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One sunflower is growing on a windowsill.
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The other is growing in a closed cupboard.
As one child said,
Zara “If we change too many things, it won’t be a fair test.”
Each week, the children will measure the height of the stem using a ruler and compare how the plants grow over time. They have already been making predictions:
Ava “The one by the window will grow more because plants need sunshine.”
Building on Previous Learning
Last year, the children also planted cuttings from a spider plant. When the plant began to look unhealthy, we carefully removed it from the pot to look at the roots. The children were amazed to see how much the roots had grown.
Oliver “I didn’t know roots could be that long!”
We re-potted the spider plant into a larger pot and made new cuttings to grow more plants. This helped the children understand how roots grow and why plants sometimes need more space.