Gardening is a recreational activity that is essential for all members of society. School gardening is becoming more necessary in the schoolyard than it was before. And it is as simple as gardening in the home.
Gardens provide many benefits that help students in their learning process. Many teachers are looking out for the best gardening activities that can be used to improve the academic performance of their students.
And even though the subject is not commonly spoken about, Lauren Bradshaw, a professional academic writer, has researched this topic and come up with some ideas. Together with professional academic writers from an essay service, we would spread more light on her insights.
Regardless of the grade you teach or the best essay reviews you use, gardening is a great way to get science standards. This article will list the best gardening activities you can choose from and the benefits that come with them.
Painting Terracotta Pots
Most schools do not have the space for outdoor gardening, so they often look for gardening activities that students can do within the classroom environment.
One of the top gardening activities recommended for students is painting pots. It is always an exciting activity for most students.
Things you need to achieve for painting pots include:
• Get a series of terracotta pots.
• Prepare other equipment like brushes and water-based acrylic paints that students will use to paint the terracotta pots as they like.
• Pierce the pot’s bottom after painting.
• Students can now plan a seed in their pot.
Students can also transplant the seedlings they might have planted in another pot. Planting some cutting can also be a good option; students can eventually gift their plants and pots to close friends.
Cultivating Sprouts
Another gardening activity students find exciting and fun, and can be conducted in the classroom, is growing sprouts.
To cultivate sprouts, just place the seeds on a wet cloth, which requires you to spray them daily. Also, no light is needed for this process; the only factor that must be considered is that the surrounding conditions must be appropriate. The seeds need air, moisture, and a warm environment to germinate.
Sprouts can be confused with microgreens; however, they are not the same. Apart from the fact that microgreens are cultivated differently than sprouts, there are other differences.
Difference Between Sprouts and Leaves
Create a Mini Greenhouse
You can also make your mini greenhouse. To achieve this, plant some seeds in an egg carton and wrap them in plastic to create a greenhouse effect. Then you should have another set of seeds in a carton without covering it with plastic.
Help your student see and understand the greenhouse effect and why the one in plastic has faster growth than the other one.
This experiment makes the student understand the concept better than just teaching the theoretical part. But with the experiment, they can relate what they have been taught with a real-life experience, making learning more effective and efficient.
Create Your Color-Changing Flowers
Making your color-changing flowers would be an exciting gardening activity for students to engage in the classroom.
All required to achieve this are white carnations and some food coloring. The steps involved include:
• Trimming down the flower to fit the size of your glass and adding water
• Add 10 to 15 drops of food coloring in the water, then stir it
• Add a minimum of one carnation to every glass of colored water
• Check on the flowers after some hours at intervals and observe the changes, students should be allowed to observe the changes.
It will help students to gain more understanding of how plants are nourished through this color-changing experiment. This experiment can be combined with their curriculum on understanding plant parts and their functions.
Conduct a Soil Erosion Experiment
Having a soil erosion experiment helps students to get a better understanding of what they have been taught—being able to state the importance of vegetation covering the soil.
And although this experiment would take days before students get to see the result, it won’t be so easy for them to forget what they learned.
To experiment, some materials must be available, which include
• A piece of wood
• Wood glue
• Scissors and a Stanley knife
• 6 empty bottles (coke bottles)
• 4 seedlings, water, and
• Soil from the garden.
Steps in conducting a soil erosion experiment:
• Cut three of the coke bottles in a rectangular shape along the side of the bottle
• Use the wood glue to stick the bottle to the wood and ensure that the necks of the three bottles shoot a little over the edge of the board.
• Fill the first bottle with bare plain soil from the garden and fill the other two bottles with a soil and compost mixture. Compress it together to make it compact.
• For the three bottles, leave the first bottle untouched for the three bottles, cover the second bottle with dead leaves and sticks, plant your seedlings in the third bottle, and ensure the seedlings are planted tightly together.
• Cut the other three bottles horizontally, keep the bottom halves, tie a knot, and join them to the neck of each of the other bottles on the board.
• Pour equal amounts of water into each bottle.
Observing the color of the water in each bottle, you would notice the first is dirty compared to the water coming from the second and third bottles, which explains that mulch and plants’ root structures help prevent soil erosion.
Allow the students to engage in this every day; they would see the difference in how the soil erodes in each bottle.
Benefits of Gardening Activities for Students
Gardening is a healthy and exciting activity for most students. These are some of the benefits it provides.
• Retention: Carrying out the practical aspects of class lessons makes it easier to retain and understand them.
• Responsibility: Caring for the plants from seed to sprouts, painting a fragile pot, and the other activities give students a sense of responsibility.
• Self-confidence: Seeing a life grow through your activities has a way of boosting self-confidence and self-esteem.
• Teamwork: Gardening activities make the students work together towards a common goal. It teaches them teamwork and cooperation.
• Health benefits: Gardening is an excellent physical activity that works the muscles and body of the students, acting as a form of exercise. And it can also improve the mood of the students.
Conclusion
Gardening is a great way to meet science standards. And regardless of the student’s grade or the course, they are learning, there will likely be a gardening project that brings what you teach to your classroom.
Check out the list we have organized above and see your learning get more accurate and exciting.