K/1 Students GROW A Little Nutty
by Theresa Farris
March 23, 2010
We were very excited when we received a large sampling of registered peanuts from the coordinator of the OK Ag web site.
We used this as an opportunity to learn about a man named George Washington Carver and some of the hundreds of ways he found to use peanuts.
We researched the type of conditions that peanuts grow well in and the length of time that it takes a peanut plant to mature. They need a long growing season of 130-140 days, and light sandy soil. The class used their calculators to determine if the peanuts were planted in the second week of March when they would be ready for harvest.
We found that if we planted our peanuts in March they would mature in the summer months of late July or early August. Since school will not start next year until September we needed to adjust our planting date so harvest would occur when the student were in school to enjoy them.
The one frustrating fact with waiting to plant our peanuts was, well…… waiting. Patience is one skill that the K/1 students (and their teacher) are severely lacking. We came up with an alternate plan. We decided to start several plants before spring break so we would be able to observe the early growth and development that we will miss when the rest of the peanuts are planted in the garden in May shortly before we are out of school.
We set up an experiment with two variables. We were going to determine in which type of soil our peanuts will grow best. Each student planted one peanut in the greenhouse soil mix of peat, vermiculite/perlite and another peanut in the same soil but adding sand to help create a more peanut friendly soil.
Students used the ruler to measure the depth of the container. Then they had to figure the amount of soil they needed to put in the container to allow the peanut to be planted at a 2 inch depth.
The peanut is a plant that most students have never seen. We learned peanuts are not really nuts. Nuts grow on trees. Peanuts are legumes,
related to beans and peas. We will be making observations and recording our results in our charter journals. K/1 students’ first entry about the peanut was to draw a prediction about how they think a peanut plant will look and where the peanuts will grow on the plant. I think they will have to “DIG” further to find the answer!
We will be keeping the peanuts in the greenhouse until there is no danger of frost. The test peanuts will be sent home with the students to be planted in their own gardens to enjoy over the summer.
