Every first grader has planted a marigold seed in our classroom's grow lab. We'll be watching our flowers grow. Check back often as I'll document their growth.
As we dig deeper into our story on agricultural engineering, we are learning exactly what the word agriculture means. We've officially defined agriculture as preparing and using nature for humans to use. This may include trees, soil, flowers, vegetables, fruits, and animals. Each first grader had a chance to plant a marigold seed in a Grow-Lab in Mrs. Brinza's classroom. We'll watch the seeds' growth each week and see what happens!
We've just begun our third unit of the year with a focus on agricultural engineering. First graders are meeting Mariana, a young girl in the Dominican Republic who discovers a problem with a plant from Hawaii her friend has given her. At first the plant grew tasty red and orange berries. But with time, the plant doesn't produce any new berries once they've been eaten or fallen off. With time, Mariana meets an agricultural engineer who teaches her about plants, insects, the pollination process and how engineers can be problem solvers even in nature when things don't go as planned. Key vocabulary: agriculture, plant, agricultural engineer, pollen, pollination, hypothesis, insect, life cycle, pesticide, integrated pest management, and hand pollinator.
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