Kindergarten is not too early to develop the habits of mind that lead to a literate citizenry.

by Tom Sprague, Sullivan Elementary School, L'Anse, Michigan

Reproduced with permission of Eisenhower National Clearinghouse; visit ENC Online (enc.org)

As a participant in the Educators' Science and Mathematics Institute Series (ESMIS) at Michigan Technological University (see related article), I developed a unit to promote scientific literacy in kindergarten students. I strongly feel that five year olds are ready to begin to use the scientific method and to learn to ask questions and form opinions.

The unit, The Life and Times of a Bean Plant, was developed when I was teaching in a rural area of upper Michigan. My students came to school every other day but remained for the full day rather than the typical half-day kindergarten session. This extended time allowed me to use thematic, interdisciplinary units in my teaching. It was also important for me to meet Michigan state standards and to cover many of the other skills kindergarten students need to prepare them for first grade-and for life. The sidebar provides samples of lessons from the unit along with standards met.

The activities were hands-on and presented in a way that was fun for the students. Lessons were nonthreatening; for example, when a seed did not germinate, the student was given another one to try. By giving the students an opportunity to correct mistakes, they were not afraid to fail. They learned that experiments don't always work the first time, and that is OK.

I started the unit with a class discussion on the parts and life cycles of plants. Then we went on a walk through our neighborhood looking at plants and asking questions such as How do you know something is a plant? What kinds of plants are there? Where are plants found?

We spent a lot of time talking about what we saw while we were walking. This allowed me to see what the children already knew. When we returned to the classroom, I wrote down the students' experiences on chart paper as they told me about them.

The next step was the seed-graphing lesson, which I found on the Project Explorer web site of Arizona State University (see resource list). In teaching the lesson, I discovered that students are fascinated by different kinds of seeds. I gave them several minutes to explore and manipulate the seeds plus plenty of time to sort different seeds into egg cartons.

As individual students finished sorting, I gave each child the opportunity to tell me why he or she sorted the seeds in a particular way. This exercise gave me some insight into each child's thinking.

The next activity gave students their first look at a bar graph. They matched their sorted seeds to the pictures along one axis of the graph and then glued the seeds onto the worksheet to make their own graph (see Figure 1). The class compared the graphs and discussed the information shown.

As a final activity, they also used seeds to make a picture.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of teaching kindergarten is observing the children's wonder at things that seem mundane to adults. Some kindergarten students may have had experience planting seeds in soil, but most will have no idea what happens when a seed wrapped in a wet paper towel is placed in a plastic bag. It was fun to watch their faces and listen to their comments when they unfolded the paper towel and saw a plant.

After planting the bean seeds two different ways, we spent the next several school days making observations. Since the students came to school every other day, they saw big changes. We looked at the plants that were in the wet paper towels, recording our observations of how they were growing. As the seeds in the towels began to sprout, the students were able to look at the roots and the development of the stem. We could also make inferences about what was going on with the seeds in the pots.

After a few days, we tested the students' predictions about what was happening to the plants growing in the pots. We took a few of the plants out of the pots and compared them to the plants in the wet paper towels. The children used their observations to answer such questions as What do plants need to survive? Our conversation led them to discover soil, water, light, and air.

As the plants in the pots continued to grow, students discussed what they had to do to take care of them. They also observed how the plants bend toward the light.

We extended our bean study by taking a closer look at other types of plants. In studying stems, we experimented by putting celery and carnations in colored water. Our study of leaves corresponded with autumn's changes in the trees outside our classroom. The children brought leaves back to the room so we could observe them more closely with hand lenses. We also used our collection of leaves to work on measurement, counting, and comparisons. For a fine motor activity, students folded a paper in half, then drew and colored a selected leaf in the top half, and glued the real leaf in the bottom half.

Our job is to prepare students for the future. The simple activities in this unit provide the students an opportunity to use the scientific method to observe, interpret, hypothesize. This approach to learning helps children form the habits of mind that they can use as they progress through the grades and that they can apply to everyday life. It is the foundation of literacy in mathematics and science.

Project Explorer at Arizona State University-West
coe.west.asu.edu/explorer/seeds.html

Observe a Leaf Lesson Plan by Shaleen Sullivan and Bridget Forest
askeric.org/cgibin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Science/Botany/BOT0102.html

University of Tennessee-Martin "Kindergarten Science"
The general Kindergarten Science page:
www.utm.edu/departments/ed/cece/kind.shtml

The first plant lesson-plant parts:
www.utm.edu/departments/ed/cece/kinder/0F1.shtml

The second plant lesson-how plants grow and change:
www.utm.edu/departments/ed/cece/kinder/0F2.shtml  

San Francisco Unified School District K-5 Science Education
This site provides some additional ideas about kindergartners' growing and studying seeds.
nisus.sfusd.k12.ca.us/programs/cipd/science/k/kseedsweeds.html

University of North Texas: Science for the Elementary Grades
Here are several lessons for elementary grades about growing beans:

www.coe.unt.edu/luttrell/1stgrade/frist_grade_lessons.htm
www.coe.unt.edu/luttrell/3rdgrade/third_grade_lessons.htm
www.coe.unt.edu/luttrell/4thgrade/fourth_grade_lessons.htm

Texas Instruments
This site explains how a determined high school science class managed to get their experiment to take off-in a space shuttle.
www.ti.com/calc/docs/beans.htm

NASA
This page tells about an experiment conducted by American and Russian astronauts.
ccf.arc.nasa.gov/dx/basket/storiesetc/97_36AR.html

Here is a lesson designed to help students determine if seeds can be grown in space.
stellar.arc.nasa.gov/stellar/Activities/hydro/ShuttleMirSeedGerm/SeedGerm.htm

This site explains the SEM-Space Experiment Module-and how to get your experiment into space, along with the program's history and current projects.
www.wff.nasa.gov/%7E7esspp/sem/sem.html

Tom Sprague is currently principal of C. J. Sullivan Elementary School, L'Anse, Michigan. He taught fourth grade for seven years and also has experience teaching developmental kindergarten and regular kindergarten classes.