Thanks to a colleague putting in a grant request, the second grade was granted RootVue planters. They are planters that have a clear wall in order for students to see the roots as their plants grow. As I was opening the boxes and reviewing the directions, It dawned on me that the directions were pretty student friendly and students putting it together would be possible. I decided that my students were going to do this project from the very start to finish, including putting the RootVue together.
1. I sat them in predetermined science groups. I made these groups with a mix of abilities. My hope was that I would have a variety of thinkers to help this project be successful.
2. I gave them just the directions to read and understand. I emphasized that they were not just reading to read. They were reading to understand because they were expected to following these directions to put together their RootVue.
3. Once a group finished reading, I would ask them a few questions about the directions to be sure they read them.
4 I gave them what they need for the first 5 steps, and let them have at it. I should mention that I told them each group was getting only one kit. Since there was measuring and cutting string, I suggested marking it first and double checking their measurements before cutting. There wasn't any extra wick, so they had to make sure they were doing it correctly.
5. Once those steps were done, it was time to expand the dirt disks. I asked students as they were ready how much water it said they needed. The answer was 7 cups. I told them that a water bottle was 2 cups, and then they needed to figure out how many water bottles filled with water they needed.
6. We stopped at the dirt on day one. Then the following day we continued with steps 7 through 14. For some reason, it took a little while to get in the groove. Students spent time exploring the dirt, and figuring out the next step. This step involved putting the dirt in the planter and holding the wicks upright so that the wick would keep the soil moist. This step took a lot of understanding and team work. Dirt went everywhere, and I had to remind myself that we could clean it up. Learning can be Messy.
7. Once seeds were planted, we were ready to wait for seeds to sprout.
I thoroughly enjoyed students working through directions together. I think they really took ownership of this project because they built it, and I was really impressed with how well they were able to problem solve. I think too often we assume we need to do things for them to speed up the project. I think there was plenty of value in reading, applying, and thinking during the build. They needed to apply math measuring skills.
Our plants have begun to sprout. Hopefully we see some root vegetables begin to grow.
